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University  of  North  Carolina 

Endowed  by  the  Dialectic  and  Philan- 
thropic Societies. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


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A  HISTORICAL  ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  BY 


THE  HON.  DAVID  SCHENCK, 


Saturday,  May  5TH,  \\ 


THE  GUILFORD  BATTLE  GROUND. 


The  Battle  of  Guilford  Gourt  House, 


Fought  Thursday,  March  15,  1781. 


Published  by  "The  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company"  by  request. 


GREENSBORO: 
Thomas  Brothers,  Power  Book  and  Job  Printers. 

1888. 


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V  HISTORICAL  ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED  BY 


THE  HON.  DAVID  SCHENCK, 

Saturday,  May  5TH,  1888, 

AT 

THE  GUILFORD  BATTLE  GROUND. 


The  Battle  of  Guilford  Gourt  House, 

Fought  Thursday,  March  15,  1781. 


Published  by  "  The  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company"  by  request. 


GREENSBORO : 
Thomas  Brothers,  Power  Book  and  Job  Printers. 

1888. 


*^  C 


v\^_>o-M^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/historicaladdres01sche 


In  pursuance  of  the  following'  correspondence  and 
numerous  individual  requests  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, the  "Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company "  has  con- 
cluded to  print  one  thousand  copies  of  the  address  of  the 
HON.  David  SCHENCK,  delivered  May  5th,  1888,  on  the 
battle  field  of  "Guilford  Court  House."  It  will  be  sold 
at  fifty  cents  a  copy,  a  little  above  cost,  and  the  profits, 
if  any,  will  be  devoted  to  the  improvement  of  the  grounds 
purchased  by  the  Company. 

Very  respectfully, 

Thomas  B.  Keogh, 

Sec'y  of  the  Co. 

Greensboro,  May  15th,  1888. 


Greensboro,  May  5th,  1SS8. 
Hon.  David  Schenck  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  heard  to-day  with  profound  satisfaction  your  noble 
and  complete  vindication  of  the  North  Carolina  militia  who  fought  at 
the  battle  of  Guilford.  For  years  these  brave  volunteers  have  rested 
under  charges  that  dishonored  them  and  were  a  source  of  mortification 
to  the  peoi^le  of  the  State.  To-day  the  stigma  is  wiped  out,  and  hence- 
forth they  will  stand  in  history  as  men  who  fought  bravely  and  most 
efficiently  for  the  cause  of  American  independence,  and  did  not  retire 
from  the  field  until  they  did  so  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  Gen- 
Greene  himself. 

Deeply'  appreciating  the  importance  of  the  facts  so  strongly  portrayed 
by  you  to-day  to  the  memory  of  these  brave  men  and  to  their  de- 
scendants and  to  all  North  Carolinians,  as  well  as  to  history  itself,  I 
in  common  with  the  State  officers  present,  as  well  as  a  large  number 
of  prominent  gentlemen  throughout  the  State,  earnestly  request  that 
the  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company  (of  which  many7  of  us  are  mem- 
bers) will  cause  your  address  to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  and 
distributed  throughout  the  State. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  M.  SCALES. 


Greensboro,  May  10th,  L888. 
Box.  A.  M.  Scales,  Governor  of  Xorlh  Carolina: 

Dear  Sir:— I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  May  ">th.  in  which  you, 
in  common  with  the  State  officers  present  a-  well  a- a  lar^e  number  of 
prominent  gentlemen  throughout  tec  state,  earnestly  request  that  the 
Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company  will  cause  my  address,  delivered  on 
the  battle  -round,  to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  and  distributed 
throughout  the  State. 

There  is  no  deeper  stain  on  American  history  than  the  injustice 
done  to  North  Carolinians  in  the  battle  of  <  tuilford  Court  House,  and 
being  impressed  with  this  fact,  I  have  devoted  every  leisure  hour  at 
my  command  for  many  nmntris  to  wipe  out  this  stain.  I  have  not 
taken  l'i  >r  granted  the  aspersions  of  those  who  have  sought  to  contemn 
our  people,  nor  relied  on  the  "  vain  repetition"  of  superficial  and  in- 
considerate writers,  but  have  endeavored  to  collect  the  testimony  of 
those  who  participated  in  the  hat  tie.  and  "  know  whei*eof  they  speak," 
and,  from  such  testimony  given  by  soldiers  and  historians,  have  drawn 
the  conclusions  which  I  submitted  to  my  fellow  citizens  on  the  occa- 
sion to  which  \(  Hi  allude. 

It  is  therefore  a  pleasure  unspeakable  to  me  that  you  and  the  dis- 
tinguished and  enlightened  gentlemen  who  were  present  and  heard 
my  argument  should  pronounce  it  "a  complete  vindication  of  the 
North  Carolina  militia  who  fought  at  the  battle  of  Guilford."  If  my 
vindication  shall  redound  to  the  honor  of  North  Carolina  and  make 
history  speak  the  truth.  I  shall  desire  no  greater  reward  than  shall 
attach  to  the  consummation  of  such  a  work. 

1  shall  comply  with  your  request  by  placing  the  address  in  the 
hands  of  the  Company,  and  trust  that  it  will  soon  he  accessible  to 
all  who  love  our  dear  old  State  and  sympathize  with  every  effort 
to  rescue  her  good  name  from  those  "who  would  defame  her." 
I  am.  with  great  respect. 

Your  sincere  friend. 

D.  SCHENCK. 


The  Battle  of  Kuilford  Sourt  House. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen — 

Fellow-Citizens  of  our  Common  Country: 

Having  been  inspired,  by  frequent  visits  to  this  sacred 
spot,  to  institute  a  patient,  thorough  and  impartial  inves- 
tigation of  the  truth  as  it  relates  to  the  history  of  the 
Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  my  friends  have  honored 
me  with  the  request  that  I  deliver  to  you,  this  day,  a  his- 
torical address  upon  this  great  and  decisive  battle. 

The  task  is  no  easy  one,  as  the  events  which  led  to  it 
were  so  varied  and  important,  the  incidents  of  the  battle 
so  numerous  and  interesting,  and  the  results  which  flowed 
from  it  so  blessed  and  glorious  to  the  American  people, 
that  it  is  difficult,  by  selection  even,  to  condense  the  story 
in  the  space  of  a  popular  address.  I,  therefore,  bespeak 
your  indulgence  if  I  shall  fail  to  meet  your  expectations 
or  to  collate  all  that  might  be  said  in  regard  to  this  fruit- 
ful theme. 

Let  us  approach  it  with  calmness  and  listen  with  pa- 
tience, as  I  shall  endeavor  to  tell  the  story. 

As  a  North  Carolinian,  with  a  heart  full  of  love  for  his 
native  State  and  "swelling  with  gladness  whenever  we 
name  her,"  I  shall  endeavor  to  repel  the  slan*ders  which 
the  jealousy  and  ignorance  of  others  have  heaped  upon 
her  and  to  get  out  of  the  ruts  of  "vain  repetition"  into 
the  smoother  road  of  investigation  and  inquiry,  not  taking 
for  granted  what  one  or  two  men  have  said  in  their  haste 
or  their  wrath,  and  which  a  hundred  have  repeated,  but 
venturing  to  produce  the  cotemporaneous  facts  and  de- 


ducing  from  them  my  own  opinions,  I  shall  submit  them, 
with  confidence,  to  your  reason  and  judgment.  I  shall 
not  detract  from  the  record  of  others  nor  "set  down 
aught  in  malice'"  of  any  one,  but  attempt  to  portray  the 
scenes  of  more  than  a  century  ago,  as  they  appear  to  me, 
through  the  long  vista  which  intervenes. 

We  stand  to-day  on  sacred  soil,  in  the  very  midst  of 
the  place  where,  on  Thursday,  the  15th  day  of  March, 
1781,  was  fought,  what  I  verily  believe  to  be,  in  its  re- 
sults, by  far  the  most  important  battle  of  the  revolution- 
ary war;  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  The  retreat 
of  Cornwallis  from  the  field  was  the  acknowledgement, 
bv  a  proud  am!  reluctant  heart,  th.it  the  attempt  to  sub- 
ject the  Southern  States  and  cnA  the  rebellion  was  a  fail- 
ure, and  with  sorrowful  step  he  followed  his  inevitable 
doom  to  the  prison  walls  of  Yorktown  where  on  the  19th 
i.\ay  of  October,  17S1,  he  became  a  humiliated  and 
conquered  captive. 

The  splendid  army  of  Burgoyne,  coming  in  all  the 
pomp  and  pride  of  discipline  and  numbers  had  been 
beaten  and  captured  at  Saratoga  in  October,  1777;  the 
army  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  been  compelled  to  seek 
the  shelter  of  its  fortifications  and  the  protection  of  the 
British  fleet  at  New  York.  British  invasion  at  the  North 
had  failed  in  the  fall  of  1779,  when  the  English  govern- 
ment determined  to  transfer  the  seat  of  war  to  the  South 
and  make  a  desperate  and  final  attempt  to  overrun  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia  and  separate  them  from  their  sister 
colonies;  hoping,  with  this  foothold,  to  follow  up  their 
victor}"  with  the  subjection  of  Virginia  and  the  ultimate 
conquest  of  the  country.  Lord  Germain  had  carefully 
prepared  the  plan  of  the  campaign  and  marked  the  par- 
ticulars of  its  cruel  progress.  North  Carolina  was  to  be 
invaded  from  Wilmington  and  the  Cape  Fear  as  a  basis 
of  operations   and    supplies;   South   Carolina    was    to   be 


conquered  by  first  capturing  Charleston  and  then  keep- 
ing the  people  of  the.  coast  in  subjection  by  the  threat  of 
turning  loose  upon  them  the  numerous  slaves  of  that  re- 
gion of  the  State;  the  upper  country  was  to  be  kept  in  awe 
by  the  menace  of  Indian  invasion  from  the  frontiers,  and 
all  the  horrors  that  this  calamity  suggested  to  their 
minds. 

By  these  means  it  was  expected  that  the  spirit  of  the 
rebellion  would  be  crushed  and  the  loyalists  become  nu- 
merous enough  to  hold  the  country  in  submission  to  the 
government. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  sailed  for  the  South  and  began  the 
seige  of  Charleston  on  the  9th  day  of  February,  1780, 
and  ended  it  on  the  12th  day  of  May  by  the  capture  of 
General  Benjamin  Lincoln  and  the  American  army  under 
his  command.  North  Carolina  had  gone  to  its  rescue, 
and  every  regiment  of  the  Continental  line  of  North  Car- 
olina Regulars,  under  General  Hogun,  numbering  about 
one  thousand  men,  had  been  embraced  in  the  capitula- 
tion. A  few  only  of  the  officers  who  had  lost  their 
positions  by  a  consolidation  of  the  regiments  in  May, 
1778,  had  escaped  from  the  fate  of  their  comrades. 

The  fall  of  Charleston  left  the  South  without  an  army 
to  oppose  the  invaders;  the  citizens  of  that  State  were 
panic  stricken  with  this  sudden  and  overwhelming  mis- 
fortune. Their  civil  government  entirely  dissolved,  their 
Governor  became  an  exile  in  North  Carolina,  the  loyal- 
ists embodied  in  every  part  of  the  State;  the  stoutest 
Whigs,  even  those  who  had  served  in  the  Continental 
Congress,  submitted  to  the  conqueror*  and  renewed  their 
allegiance  to  the  royal  government. 

All  regular  opposition  to  British  power  ceased.  Marion, 
with  a  few  devoted  men,  took  refuge  in  the  swamps  of 
the  Pee-Dee  and  Sumpter  and  his  handful  of  followers 
-Bancroft.  Vol.  5  p.393. 


sought  the  fast  less  of  the  mountains,  that  last   refuge    of 
patriots  in  every  land,  as  the  only  hope  of  safety. 

The  whole  State  was  prostrate,  and  the  King  rejoiced 
and  the  parliament  exulted  that  at  least  one  State  was 
thoroughly  reclaimed  and  that  their  plans  were  a  success. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  returned  to  New  York  to  enjoy  the 
congratulations  of  his  friends  and  the  glory  of  his  victory, 
leaving  Lord  Cornwallis  to  command  the  Southern  army 
and  push  his  conquest  into  North  Carolina. 

The  English  outposts  were  extended  to  Georgetown, 
Camden  and  Ninety-Six,  and  proclamations,  breathing 
vengeance  and  cruelty  to  the  Whigs,  were  issued.  Plun- 
der and  bloodshed  and  anarch}7  rioted  over  the  land  un- 
restrained. 

The  Provincial  Congress  was  filled  with  gloomy  fore- 
bodings; but  rallied  sufficiently  to  organize  a  small  band 
of  regulars  from  Maryland  and  Delaware,  under  the  Baron 
DeKalb  to  occupy  North  Carolina  and  co-operate  with 
its  militia  for  defence.  In  an  evil  hour  to  American  in- 
dependence General  Horatio  Gates  was  entrusted  with 
the  command  of  this  skeleton  army  and  it  soon  fell  a 
victim  to  his  rashness  and  folly  at  Camden,  where  he 
was  routed  and  his  army  almost  destroyed.  The  struggle 
now  seemed  ended  in  the  South.  The  nation  looked  on 
with  amazement  and  horror  at  this  swelling  tide  of  mis- 
fortune which  seemed  to  be  swallowing  up  every  hope  of 
liberty  as  it  spread  over  the  land. 

The  government  was  paralyzed;  its  armies  were 
captured  and  beaten;  its  treasury  was  empty;  its  regular 
soldiers  were  languishing  in  the  filthy  prison  ships  of  the 
enemy;  the  loyalists  were  organizing  for  rapine  and  re- 
venge and  the  savage  was  painting  for  the  war  path  and 
for  blood. 

Cornwallis,  willing  to  carry  out  the  unrelenting  and 
merciless  plans  of  Germain,  selected  Lieutenant-Colonel 


9 

Banistre  Tarleton  of  his  cavalry  and  Colonel  Patrick 
Ferguson,  who  led  a  body  of  picked  infantry,  as  the 
instruments  of  his  oppressive  purpose. 

The  former  made  himself  conspicuous  by  the  massacre 
of  Buford's  command  in  the  Waxhaws  and  received  the 
commendations  of  his  commander  for  the  bloody  work. 

Ferguson's  mission  was  to  organize  the  tories  and 
overawe  the  Whigs  in  the  up  country  districts,  which 
meant  to  hang  and  imprison  those  who  refused  to  take 
the  oath  or  resisted  his  power.  A  thousand  loyalists 
had  joined  his  battalion  of  Regulars  and  marched  from 
Ninety-Six  through  the  upper  counties  of  South  Carolina, 
unopposed,  into  Rutherford  and  Burke  counties  in  North 
Carolina.  Mis  will  was  law  and  his  command  was  death. 
Right  and  mercy  were  disregarded  and  the  people  fled 
in  terror  and  dismay  before  his  advance.  Bold  in  his 
movements,  profane  and  denunciatory  in  his  proclama- 
tions, he  went  forth  breathing  threats  upon  all  who  with- 
stood his  authority.  Whole  families  and  neighborhoods, 
gathering  what  they  could  in  the  moment  of  danger, 
fled  from  his  approach. 

The  men  of  Burke,  who  had  dared  to  strike  his  out- 
posts, were  unable  to  oppose  his  advance  and  fled  across 
the  mountains  to  the  Holston  and  the  Nollichucky  where 
they  found  refuge  with  Shelby  and  Sevier.  There  Col- 
onels Charles  McDowell  of  Burke,  Isaac  Shelby  of  Wash- 
ington, and  "  Nollichucky  Jack,"  as  Col.  John  Sevier  was 
familiarly  called  by  all  North  Carolinians,  agreed  to 
form  a  volunteer  corps  of  their  mountain  soldiers  and 
march  to  the  rescue  of  their  friends;  to  hunt  for  Ferguson 
and  to  revenge  themselves  upon  him  and  his  marauders. 
At  Quaker  Meadows,  the  home  of  the  McDowells,  on 
the  Catawba,  two  miles  North  of  Morganton,  on  the 
30th  day  of  September,  1780,  assembled  these  hardy  sol- 
diers;  men  who  had  felled  the  forests,  destroyed  the  wild 


Id 

beasts  which  surrounded  them  and  driven  back  the 
Indians  who  opposed  the  march  of  their  civilization. 

They  knew  nothing  of  the  stamp  tax  and  the  use  of 
tea  but  they  found  men  seizing  their  cattle,  plunder- 
ing their  houses  and  insulting  their  wives,  and  they 
determined  on  revenge. 

Cleaveland  from  Wilkes,  Winston  from  Surry,  Ham- 
bright  and  Chronicle,  from  Lincoln  joined  the  Mc- 
Dowell's, Charles  and  Joseph,  from  Burke.  Campbell 
from  Virginia  came  to  the  rescue,  Hill,  Lacy  and  Wil- 
liams   from  South  Carolina  joined  the  pursuit. 

On  the  7th  day  of  October  they  brought  Ferguson  to 
bay  at  Kings  Mountain. 

They  were  ignorant  of  military  tactics  and  knew  less 
of  the  science  of  war.  They  had  been  trained  to  shoot 
the  deadly  Deckhard  rifle  and  to  close  with  the  knife  and 
tomahawk  which  they  carried  in  their  belts.  The}-  fought 
from  tree  to  tree  and  were  vigilant  and  quick-  in  all  their 
movements.  Officers,  as  well  as  men,  were  armed  alike 
and  during  the  combat  the)'  fought  on  an  equality,  only 
expecting  the  control  of  an  officer  when  decisive  move- 
ments were  to  be  made.  No  printed  circulars  announced 
their  order  of  battle;  there  were  no  glittering  uniforms  to 
inspire  authority,  each  was  dressed  in  the  hunting  shirt 
of  the  da)',  with  his  powder  horn  on  one  side  and  his 
bullet  pouch  on  the  other,  with  knife  and  hatchet  in  his 
belt. 

They  were  drawn  up  in  line  and  told  that  they  were  to 
form  a  circle  around  the  hill  and  press  forward  to  the 
centre  until  Ferguson  was  killed  or  captured. 

Campbell  of  Virginia  who  had  been  honored  with  the 
nominal  command  had  but  few  words  to  say.  He  in- 
structed each  regiment  and  battalion  as  to  the  position 
assigned  it,  and,  waiting  till  they  formed  the  magic  circle, 
he  advanced  to  the  head  of  his  column  and  gave  but  one 


1 I 

command:   "Now,    boys   shout    like   hell   and    fight    like 
devils!" 

In  a  moment  the  war  whoop  of  the  frontier  echoed  in 
the  forest  and  the  keen  crack  of  the  rifles  mingled  with 
its  sound.  From  tree  to  tree  they  advanced  and  with 
every  discharge  of  their  rifles  a  British  soldier  fell.  Fer- 
guson amazed  at  their  reckless  daring,  ordered  his  regu- 
lars to  charge  with  the  bayonet  and  push  them  back. 

The  charge  came  and  the  riflemen  retreated  before  the 
bayonet;  but  as  the  British  turned  to  regain  their  line  a 
volley  thined  their  ranks  one-third,  and  the  "shouting 
devils"  were  again  at  their  heels.  Thrice  this  charge 
was  repeated  until  only  twenty  regulars  survived  the 
dreadful  carnage. 

The  circle  had  become  smaller  each  time,  Winston 
had  reached  one  summit  and  Hambright  another,  leav- 
ing Chronicle  a  corpse  behind  them.  The  portly  form 
and  stentorian  voice  of  Cleaveland  were  seen  and  heard 
near  their  camp  exhorting  his  men  to  "  shoot  low  and  aim 
well."  Williams  fell  at  the  head  of  his  men,  but  Lacy 
and  Hill  Rushed  over  his  prostrate  form  to  revenge  his 
death. 

The  whistle  of  Ferguson,  the  signal  for  a  charge,  was 
heard  in  the  din  of  battle.  The  Whigs  knew  his  signal 
and  his  checked  shirt  that  he  wore  in  battle,  and  were 
watching  for  him  to  come  in  sight.  In  a  moment,  wield- 
ing his  sword  in  his  left  hand  and  spurring  his  white 
charger  to  a  furious  speed,  he  made  a  dash  for  life  and 
freedom. 

One  Gilleland,  of  Sevier's  command,  a  North  Caro- 
linian, first  discovered  his  approach,  and  though  wounded 
and  sick,  he  raised  his  rifle,  but  it  failed  to  fire;  then 
turning  to  Robert  Young,  a  comrade  near  by,  he  shouted, 
"There  is  Ferguson — shoot  him!"  Young,  perceiving 
the  prey,  raised  his  pet  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  replied: 


I  2 


"I'll  sec  what  Sweet  Lips  can  do."  The  music  from 
"Sweet  Lips"  had  not  yet  brought  back  the  echo  from 
the  rocks  when  Ferguson  fell,  unconscious,  with  a  bullet 
through  his  brain.      North  Carolina  was  avenged. 

The  battle  was  ended,  the  white  flag  ran  up  and  with 
the  exception  ot  hanging  a  dozen  or  so  of  rapacious  to- 
nes, the  carnage  ceased.  Not  a  single  man  of  Ferguson's 
command  escaped. 

This  victory  of  undisciplined  troops,  who  had  sprung 
like  tabled  soldiers  from  the  ground;  who  had  organized 
their  regiments  without  a  General,  who  marched  without 
a  commissar}-  or  quartermaster;  who  fought  and  bled 
without  a  surgeon  to  dress  their  wounds;  who  neither 
asked  nor  received  a  soldier's  wages;  who  came,  unbid- 
den, as  volunteers,  to  save  a  prostrate  country  and  to 
punish  a  devouring  foe;  these  untutored  men  of  the  Car- 
olinas  and  Virginia  were  the  first  to  hurl  back-  the  invaders 
and  strike  dismay  into  their  ranks — the  first  to  "relight 
the  torch  of  freedom"  on  their  beacon  hills  and  call  to 
their  saddened  countrymen  still  to  hope. 

While  we  honor  the  comrades  who  fought  by  their 
sides,  let  the  facts  be  imperishable  as  the  eternal  hills, 
from  whence  came  these  men,  that  this  was  a  North  Car- 
olina victory — conceived  ami  organized  by  North  Caro- 
linians, with  two-thirds  of  the  soldiers  who  executed  it 
from  the  (  )ld  North  State.  .That  the  vanguard  of  attack 
was  led  by  Winston  and  Chronicle,  from  Surry  and  Lin- 
coln, the  latter  of  whom  yielded  his  youthful  life  a  heroic 
sacrifice  to  the  land  he  loved. 

Cornwallis  was  at  this  time  in  Charlotte,  smarting  with 
the  sting  of  "The  Hornets"  who  surrounded  him.  I  lis 
couriers  were  shot  d<  >wn  and  his  news  gatherers  slain.  The 
defeat  and  death  of  Ferguson  was  first  announced  to  His 
Lordship  by  the  joyful  Whigs  who  shouted  it  in  the  ears 
of  his  pickets  and  lighted    bonfires   in    sight  of  his  camp. 


Every  shadow  now  seemed  a  soldier  to  his  distempered 
vision;  every  soldier  seemed  a  troop  rising  out  of  the  in- 
visible distance  beyond.  Exaggerated  accounts  of  the 
gathering  backwoodsmen,  who  seemed  innumerable  and 
invulnerable,  were  circulated  through  his  camp.  Dismay 
was  in  every  countenance.  On  the  night  of  the  14th  of 
October,  though  weak  and  sick,  he  (led  in  the  darkness 
and  [dunged  through  the  historic  mud"  of  the  Waxhaws, 
never  resting  his  feet  till  he  reached  a  place  of  safety  at 
Winnsboro,  South  Carolina.  Here  he  sate  down  to  real- 
ize the  mutations  of  fortune,  and  to  learn  that  North 
Carolina  was  yet  unconquered  and  determined  to  be  free. 

It  taught  him  another  lesson — that  his  bloody  tragedies 
would  be  avenged;  that  his  oppressions  could  not  con- 
tinue with  impunity.  Above  the  roar  of  battle  at  Kings 
Mountain,  his  soldiers  had  heard  the  ominous  words 
"Tarleton's  quarters"  and  before  the  hand  of  vengeance 
could  be  stayed  a  hundred  crouching  loyalists  had  fallen 
victims  to  the  spirit  of  retaliation.  From  this  time  forth 
Cornwallis  behaved  as  a  soldier,  not  from  choice,  but 
from  necessity  and  personal  danger. 

Hut  we  must  hasten  on  with  our  story. 

On  the  14th  day  of  October,  17S0,  General  Washing- 
ton, acting  under  the  powers  delegated  to  him  by  Con- 
gress, announced  his  selection  of  Major-General  Nathanael 
Greene  to  succeed  General  Gates,  and  on  the  4th  day  of 
December  he  assumed  command  at  Charlotte. 

He  found  at  Charlotte  scarcely  eleven  hundred  troops 
of  whom  only  eight  hundred  were  fit  for  duty.  Many  of 
them  with  garments  so  tattered  that  they  could  not 
appear  on  parade,  but  under  those  rags  were  indomitable 
spirits.  Here  was  the  fragment  of  the  first  Maryland, 
under  Major  Anderson,  the  only  organized  force  that 
retreated  from  Camden,  one  hundred  of  the  "Blue  Hen's 
Chickens,"  Kirkwood's  Delawares,  and  a  small  remnant  of 


'4 

Colonel  Hal.  Dixon's  battalion  of  North  Carolinians, 
"who  fought  a^  long  as  there  was  a  cartridge  in  their 
pouches"  and  who  have  been  made  immortal  in  history 
by  the  pen  of  Lee,  men  who  fought  over  the  dying 
body  of  DeKalb.  These  men  were  patriots  and  soldiers, 
though  covered  with  tatters  and  rags  and  only  waited 
the  first  opportunity  to  capture  a  wardrobe  from  the 
enemy. 

Greene,  finding  that  this  region  was  exhausted  of 
provisions,  divided  his  forces.  Taking  his  main  army  to 
"Camp  Repose"  on  the  l'ce  Dee,  in  Anson  count)',  he 
detached  General  Morgan,  on  the  16th  day  of  December, 
across  the  Catawba  to  watch  the  enemy  and  strike  a  blow 
if  oppi  irtunity  offered. 

His  force  consisted  of  320  men  detached  from  the 
Maryland  line,  a  detachment  of  Virginia  militia  of  200 
men  under  Triplett  and  Tate  who  had  seen  hard  service, 
and  Col.  William  Washington's  cavalry,  about  80  men. 
In  all  about  600  men.  These  were  to  be  reinforced  by 
the  militia  of  that  section. 

He  was  ioined  by  Major  Joseph  McDowell,  of  Quaker 
Meadows,  with  i</3  of  his  Kings  Mountain  veterans  from 
Burke  and  Rutherford  counties-  and  120  men  from  Meck- 
lenburg and  Lincoln  countiest  70  militia  from  South 
Carolina  that  came  with  Pickens,  who  had  just  escaped 
from  prison  and  about  ioo  Georgians  under  MacCall  and 
Cunningham.  In  all  1055  men  of  whom  at  least  310 
were  from  North  Carolina  or  more  than  one-half  of  all 
the  militia. 

Tarleton's  force  consisted  of  550  dragoons,  (which 
constituted  his  Legion)  about  500  regulars  and  two  pieces 
of  artillery,  giving  him  greatly  the  advantage  in  num- 
bers, discipline  and  weight  of  arms  over  Morgan. 


*  Johnson's  life  of  Greene,  p.  8HS. 
1  Bancroft  Vol.  5,  p.  190. 


'5 

It  is  important  that  we  give  the  plan  of  this  battle, 
which  had  so  much  influence  over  General  Greene  in  the 
arrrangement  of  his  troops  at  Guilford  Court  House. 
Morgan  formed  two  lines  of  militia  in  front,  the  first 
line  being  on  each  side  of  the  main  road  on  which  Tarle- 
ton  was  approaching,  the  right  commanded  by  Colonel 
Cunningham,  of  Georgia,  the  left  by  Major  Joseph 
McDowell,  of  Quaker  Meadows,  North  Carolina. 

The  second  line  of  militia  was  under  the  command  of 
General  Francis  Pickens  and  the  third  line  was  composed 
of  the  regulars  and  200  Virginia  militia,  who  were  veter- 
ans in  service. 

This  you  will  hereafter  observe  was  exactly  General 
Greene's  order  of  battle  at  Guilford  Court  House. 

Before  the  battle  began  and  while  Tarleton  was  form- 
ing his  troops,  in  sight,  General  Morgan  walked  along 
the  lines  of  the  militia,  exhorting  them  to  firmness,  in- 
structing the  first  line  to  "select  the  men  with  the 
epaulettes"  "and  announcing  that"  all  he  asked  of  them 
was  "TWO  DELIBERATE  DISCHARGES  AT  FIFTY  YARDS 
AND  THEN  TO  RETIRE  BEHIND  THE  REGULARS.*"  Judge 
Johnson,  in  his  life  of  Greene,  states  this  fact  with  great 
particularity  and  emphasis,  but  strangely  neglects  to  state 
that  this  same  order  was  given  by  General  Greene  to  the 
militia   at   Guilford  Court  House. 

The  plan  was  successful.  The  militia  killed  so  many 
of  the  British  officers  that  when  the  enemy  reached  the 
third  American  line  they  were  in  confusion  for  want  of 
orders  and  officers  and  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  disci- 
pline and  courage  of  the  regular  troops.  So  great  was 
their  demoralization  that  a  whole  regiment  threw  down 
their  arms  and  fell  upon  the  ground  and  begged  for 
quarter.  The  battle  had  been  won  already  by  the  mil- 
itia, of  whom  a  large  majority   were    North    Carolinians. 

*. Johnson's  life  of  Greene,  Vol.  1,  rl.  37S. 


1 6 


The  mountain  men  had  destroyed  Tarleton's  command, 
whom  they  hated  as  the  Vandals  of  their  day,  and  the 
men  of  Mecklenburg  had  made  good  the  resolutions  oi 
May,   [775. 

At  that  time  Cornwallis  lay  to  the  Southwest  at  Fish- 
ing Creek,  in  the  North  Western  portion  of  what  is  now 
York  count)-,  South  Carolina,  about  twenty  miles  distant, 
waiting  for  Tarleton  to  return  in  his  triumphal  march 
with  Morgan  a  captive  at  his  heels;  but  Tarleton  re- 
turned under  whip  and  spur,  a  beaten  and  disgraced 
leader,  lie  had  won  his  last  victory  at  the  butchery  of 
the  Waxhaws  and  the  sun  of  Ids  fortune  set  in  darkness 
at  Yorktown.  Thenceforth  he  was  despised  but  not 
feared.  Cornwallis  was  again  appalled  at  the  destruction 
of  his  finest  troops  by  the  undisciplined  militia  of  North 
Carolina,  and  paused  in  his  camp  for  twenty-four  hours 
before  he  regained  his  self-possession,  and  then  too  late 
to  intercept  the  "old  waggoner"  who  was  retreating  in 
haste  through  Rutherford,  Burke  and  Lincoln  with  lii^ 
prisoners  and  boot)-.  Tins  stupid  and  fatal  delay  of 
Cornwallis  made  Morgan's  retreat  into  North  Carolina 
and  his  junction  with  the  main  army  at  this  spot  on  the 
iith  of  February,  possible. 

1  have  not  time  to  relate  the  thrilling  incidents  of  this 
wonderful  retreat  ol  Morgan — almost  equal  in  skill  and 
courage  to  the  retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  Superficial 
and  superstitious  writers,  of  so  called  history,  have  been 
so  astounded  at  its  thrilling  incidents  that  they  have  ig- 
nored the  wisdom  and  courage  of  Morgan  and  Greene 
and  ascribed  their  escape  to  supernatural  intervention. 
The)'  have  declared  that  in  turn  as  the  Americans  crossed 
the  Catawba  and  the  Yadkin  and  were  in  the  very  jaws  of 
the  British  Lion,  God  sent  the  flood  of  waters  and  sepa- 
rated them  from  their  pursuers.  God  has  been  good  and 
merciful  to  this  blessed  land,  but  has  not  performed  miracles 


'7 

to  save  it  as  yet.  He  raised  up  General  Greene  as  the  mil- 
itary deliverer  of  the  South  and  inspired  him  with  sagacity 
to  have  the  Dan,  the  Yadkin  and  the  Catawba  rivers  ex- 
plored, and  to  have  ever)'  ford  marked  and  every  boat 
secured,  and  to  General  Greene's  superior  knowledge  of 
these  streams  and  the  roads  of  the  country  is  due  this 
masterly  retreat.  Morgan  was  two  days  ahead  of  Corn- 
wallis  when  he  crossed  the  Catawba"  at  Sherrill's  Ford 
and  rested  for  his  Lordship  to  approach,  and  the  Ameri- 
can forces  gave  him  battle  as  he  waded  the  river  at 
Cowen's  Ford.  On  the  31st  of  January,  178 1 ,  Greene 
rested,  too,  at  the  Yadkin,  and  calmly  wrote  his  dis- 
patches while  British  cannon  balls  were  unroofing  the 
little  cabin  that  sheltered  his  table.  He  crossed  the  Dan 
in  ferry  boats  that  waited,  a  week,  his  coming  and  the 
enemy  were  unable  even  to  harass  his  rear.  It  is  one  of 
the  wonders  of  literature  that  this  superstitious  view  of 
the  great  retreat  has  so  often  been  repeated  as  to  be  re- 
ceived by  the  masses  of  our  people  as  history.  It  is  about 
as  silly  and  groundless  as  the  assertion  made  by  this 
same  class  of  sensational  writers  that  the  North  Carolina 
militia  fled  here  without  firing  a  shot,  and  to  our  everlast- 
*  Johnson's  Greene,  Vol.  l,  pp.  40.r)-406. 

Note.— Morgan  reached  the  Catawba  River,  at  Sherrill's  Ford,  on  Wednesday, 
the  24th  day  of  January,  1781,  and  crossed  it.  He  had  kept  Pickens  further  up  the 
river.  Pickens  crossed  the  Catawba,  with  the  prisoners  on  the  way  to  Virginia, 
at  Island  Ford.    He  made  no  halt,  but  hastened  on  to  Virginia. 

Morgan,  with  his  regular  corps,  halted  at  Sherrill's  until  the  30th  of  January, 
six  days,  and  then  moved  down  that  evening,  with  Gen.  Greene,  who,  with  his 
staff,  had  reached  him  that  day,  to  Beattie's  Ford. 

Cornwallis  came  through  old  Tryon  Court  House,  now  in  Gaston,  then  down 
the  Flint  Hill  road,  crossing  the  South  Fork  at  Gattis'  Ford,  ,1ust  above  the  pres- 
ent Phifer's  Factory,  and  reached  Ramsour's  Mill  on  Tuesday,  the  23rd  of  "Janu- 
ary. Here,  in  order  to  lighten  his  march,  he  spent  two  days,  the  24th  and  25th, 
burning  his  wagons  and  heavy  baggage— the  step  which  proved  fatal  to  him  in 
the  end.  It  rained  the  2™th  and  28th,  raising  the  Catawba.  The  river  subsided 
on  the  30th. 

Morgan  retreated  the  evening  and  all  night  of  the  3lst  (Wednesday)  towards 
Salisbury  with  his  corps.  Greene  remained  to  bring  off  the  militia  and  barely 
escaped  capture. 


[8 

ing  shame  be  it  said  that  until  the  day  of  Caruthers,  that 
noble  Christian  and  lofty  patriot,  no  North  Carolinian  has 
taken  time  to  expose  the  gross  slander  heaped  upon 
those  patrii  'tic  men. 

It  is  not  alleged  that  the  riflemen  of  Winston  and 
Armstrong  of  Surry,  or  the  gallant  Scotch-Irish  of  Guil- 
ford, who  fought  under  Forbis,  or  the  North  Carolina 
Cavalry,  under  the  Marquis  of  Bretigny,  fled,  or  that  a 
single  officer  oi  the  militia  even  flinched  from  duty.  For 
all  these  men  words  n\  encomium  have  been  written  and 
the  chivalrous  conduct  ol  Davie  has  extorted  from  the 
jealous)-  of  our  traducers  the  highest  meed  of  praise. 

It  is  against  the  undisciplined  and  poorly  armed  militia, 
whom  Lee  said  it  was  murder  to  pit  against  English  vet- 
erans and  British  bayonets,  that  these  anathemas  have 
been  hurled  hurled,  too,  to  shield  their  own  misfortunes 
,{\m\  blunders.  The  author  who  has  asserted  it  loudest 
and  with  unpardonable  exaggeration  has  not  been  able 
to  stand  himself  before  the  bar  of  history  uncondemned 
for  his  own  conduct  in  this  battle.""'  This  gross  injustice 
has  gone  unchallenged,  but  in  due  time  it  shall  lie  ex- 
posed and  North  Carolina  shall  be  vindicated. 

The  retreat  of  General  Greene  ended  when  he  crossed 
the  Dan  at  Irving's  Ferry  the  15th  of  February,  17X1,  a 
whole  day  ahead  ol   his  pursuers. 

Cornwallis  was  foiled,  now,  the  third  time  and  with  dis- 
gust and  disappointment  he  turned  his  face  to  Hillsboro; 
and  concealed  his  chagrin  by  issuing  high  sounding 
proclamations  recounting  how  he  had  conquered  North 
Carolina  and  driven  the  last  rebel  from  her  borders.  In 
one  month  from  the  date  of  this  military  gasconade  he 
was  burning  bridges  behind  him  in  his  flight  to  the  sea, 
and  his  feet  never  rested  until  he  crouched  behind  the 
breastworks  at  Wilmington. 

-See  Appendix. 


19 

General  Greene  rested  his  troops,  and  being  joined  by 
a  thousand  Virginia  militia,  re-crossed  the  Dan  on  the 
23rd  of  February  and  formed  a  camp  at  Speedwell  Iron 
Works  on  Troublesome  Creek,  fifteen  miles  Northwest 
of  Guilford  Court  Mouse. 

Col.  Otho  Williams  had  already  been  detached  with 
1300  light  troops  to  harass  Cornwallis's  camp;  700  of 
this  gallant  band  were  North  Carolina  militia  from  Rowan, 
Mecklenburg  and  Surry,  who  with  about  30  Georgians  un- 
der MacCall  constituted  the  brigade  of  Pickens  and  which 
Johnson,  in  his  history,  calls  Pickens'  South  Carolinians. 
The  Palmetto  State  did  not  require  such  a  misrepresenta- 
tion to  sustain  her  character.  These  men  were  the  troops  of 
Graham  and  Davidson  and  Locke,  who  were  left  without 
a  leader  by  the  bullet  of  1  lager,  the  tory,  who  slew  his 
neighbor  to  enslave  his  country  and  tied  thenceforth  like 
Cain,  a  wanderer  through  the  earth.  Pickens  was  then 
an  exile  in  North  Carolina,  brave,  chivalric,  burning  to 
avenge  the  oppressions  and  wrongs  of  his  people  but 
without  men  or  arms  to  execute  Ins  purpose.  In  all  the 
generosity  of  unselfish  patriotism  these  North  Caro- 
linians elected  General  Pickens  to  take  the  place  of 
that  noble  patriot  whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  the 
counties  and  colleges  of  his  State.  Pickens  appreciated 
the  honor  and  difficulty  of  filling  the  place  of  General 
William  Davidson,  the  brave  martyr  of  the  Catawba,  but 
he  rose  with  the  clanger  and  won  renown  at  the  head  of 
this  famous  command. 

Cornwallis  was  so  beset  and  goaded  by  the  daring  of 
this  brigade  that  he  sallied  forth  in  his  rage  like  a  wounded 
bear  to  avenge  himself  upon  his  tormentors — tormentors 
whom  his  proclamation  said  had  (led  from  the  State. 

The  tory  band  of  Pyles  had  been  cut  to  pieces  on  the 
Alamance,  and  Tarleton  had  fled  with  courier  after  courier 
shouting:  in  his  ear  the  advance  of  Pickens  and    Lee   and 


20 


Graham  who  were  galloping  over  hill  and  valley  to  over- 
take him. 

With  bitter  determination  Cornwallis  marched  his  army 
to  the  Alamance  and  made  a  dash  at  Wetzell's  mills,  for 
the  North  Carolina  militia,  under  Butler  and  Eaton,  who 
were  marching  to  reinforce  General  Greene.  This  was 
the  only  spurt  of  energy  or  enterprise  shown  by  Corn- 
wallis in  the  whole  campaign  and  it  was  foiled  by  the 
watchful  eye  of  Otho  Williams  who  reached  the  mill  ten 
minutes  in  advance  and  drawing  up  his  force  on  the  op- 
posite hill  gave  the  enemy  such  a  check"  that  the  enter- 
prise ingloriously  ended.  The  reinforcements  reached 
Greene's  camp  on  the  evening"  of  Saturday,  the  ioth  of 
March.  The  North  Carolina  brigades  numbered  about 
five  hundred  each.  Butler's  Brigade  from  Granville  and 
Orange,  Eaton's  from  Bute,  now  Warren  and  Franklin, 
and  Halifax;  the  Virginians  under  Generals  Stevens  and 
Lawson,  both  of  whom  were  veterans,  and  who  were 
now  supernumerary  Continental  officers  in  command  of 
militia,  numbered  about  1650  men — 600  of  these  under 
General  Stevens  were  veterans  also. 

The  Sabbath  was  spent  in  rest.  This  was  one  of  the 
Quaker  habits  Greene  had  not  lost  in  his  thirst  for  mili- 
tary glory. 

Cornwallis  lay  then  at  New  Garden  with  his  whole 
army  and  was  watching,  with  sullen  inactivity,  for  the 
next  movment  of  his  wily  ami  determined  foe. 

The  English  nobleman,  enlightened  by  education, 
trained  to  the  art  of  war  under  the  ablest  commanders 
and  with  four  years  experience  in  American  warfare,  had 
been  taunted  and  baffled  by  a  yeoman,  the  son  of  a 
blacksmith,  whose  youth  was  spent  at  the  plow,  and  his 
Lordship  felt  the  deep  humiliation  of  his  failure.  Corn- 
wallis was  brave,  but  his  antagonist  never  came  within 
reach   of  his   blow.      lie   was    insulted    in    his   camp    and 


21 

driven  to  desperation  and  rage  but  his  foe,  though  visible 
at  every  outpost,  was  too  wary  for  his  snares.  He  wanted 
to  fight — his  provisions  were  low — he  was  in  an  enemy's 
country  where  every  day  increased  his  danger;  but 
Greene  had  attained  to  that  degree  of  military  skill  that 
he  could  not  be  forced  to  fight  until  he  chose  his  ground 
and  the  time  for  the  battle. 

On  Monday,  the  13th  of  March,  General  Greene  made 
every  preparation  for  an  advance  and  the  morning  of  the 
14th  found  him  at  Guilford  Court  House  in  eight  miles  of 
the  enemy's  camp. 

Lee  and  Washington  were  called  in,  and  the  14th  was 
spent  in  reconnoitreing  the  grounds  and  acquainting  the 
army  with  every  road  around  it.  Ammunition  was  dis- 
tributed and  the  men  encouraged  to  do  their  duty. 

Thursday,  the  15th,  Greene's  army  was  rested  and 
ready  for  battle. 

Cornwallis  was  soon  apprised  of  this  advance  of  Gen- 
eral Greene  and  knew  it  was  a  banter  for  battle.  Indeed, 
it  is  said  that  General  Greene  caused  a  message  to  be 
communicated  to  his  Lordship  that  he  was  ready  to  ac- 
commodate him  if  he  was  anxious  to  test  his  strength  in  ' 
battle. 

Cornwallis  immediately  sent  his  baggage  South,  to 
Bell's  mill,  under  the  escort  of  Colonel  Hamilton's  regi- 
ment of  loyalists  and  advanced  to  accept  the  American 
General's  challege. 

The  army  of  Cornwallis  was  small  but  every  soldier  in 
it  was  a  disciplined  veteran  whose  skill  in  arms  had 
been  ripened  by  long  and  arduous  service. 

Its  commanders  were  brave  men,  devoted  to  the  crown, 
who  had  won  renown  on  the  continent  and  had  been 
selected  for  their  fitness  to^nake  this  last  and  desperate 
attempt  to  crush  the  South  and  destroy  the  Confederation 
of  the  States. 


Cornwallis  was  43  years  old,  his  judgment  was  mature, 
his  strength  unimpaired  and  he  was  ambitious  to  a   fault. 

Unscrupulous  in  his  conduct,  cruel  in  his  oppressions, 
he  was  an  implacable  and  relentless  foe.  Disappointed  in 
his  pursuit  of  Morgan,  he  had  burned  his  heavy  baggage 
and  destroyed  every  incumbrance  to  his  march,  at  Rani- 
sour's  mill,  and,  stripped  oi  almost  every  comfort,  he 
had  plunged  forward  after  Greene  with  a  blind  fury  which 
was  foreign  to  his  phlegmatic  temperament;  but  neither 
fury  nor  courage  nor  privation  availed  against  the  watch- 
ful genius  of  his  skilful  antagonist.  lie  was  now  com- 
pelled to  fight  in  an  enemy's  country,  where  he  declared 
he  had  "not  beenabletogainoneloyalrecruit."  Without 
transportation  ami  with  a  scant  supply  of  ammunition, 
he  determined,  with  an  obstincy  characteristic  oi  the 
man,  to  risk  his  reputation  as  a  General  and  the  lives  and 
safety  of  his  army  in  this  last  desperate  struggle.  Mis 
force  hardly  reached  two  thousand  men,  including  the 
remnant  of  Tarleton's  Legion  which  participated  but 
little  in  the  battle.  He  had  Generals  O'Hara,  Howard 
and  Leslie,  all  distinguished  officers,  an  1  that  Prince  of 
soldiers,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Webster  of  the  23rd,  to 
execute  his  purposes.  I  he  33rd  had  been  the  regiment 
of  his  Lordship  and  under  his  eye  they  were  ready  to 
dash  at  any  foe.  Idle  23rd,  the  Welsh  Fusiliers,  of  which 
the  Prince  of  Wales  was  by  courtesy  of  his  rank  the 
Colonel,  and  commanded  by  Webster,  constituted  with 
the  33rd  a  brigade  unexcelled  by  any  corps  111  the  world 
of   equal   number. 

I  hese  were  on  his  left,  supported  by  the  second  bat- 
talion of  the  Queen's  Guards  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
James  Stuart — a  gallant  but  unfortunate  soldier. 

(  )n  ins  right  were  the  Seventy-first  Scotch  Highlanders, 
enthusiastic  and  dashing,  with  whom  were  the  hireling 
mercenaries  of  the  elector  of  Hesse  Cassel,  coarse  and  bru- 


^3 

tal,  without  principle  or  sentiment,  they  were  the  irre- 
sponsible slaves  of  the  tyrants  who  led  them  to  battle  and 
slaughter  and  received  so  much  money  per  capita  for  all 
who  were  slain,  thereby  making  profit  out  of  carnage. 

These  were  supported  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Norton, 
of  the  first  battalion  of  British  Guards. 

The  artillery  under  McLeod  moved  in  the  centre  along 
the  New  Garden  road,  with  Tarleton's  Legion  in  their 
rear  and  the  Grenadiers  and  Yagers  on  their  flanks  for 
support. 

This  was  the  order  of  battle  formed  by  the  British 
commander  in  the  valley  of  Horsepen  Creek,  which  is  in 
sight,  half  a  mile  west  of  where  we  stand.  It  was  at 
noon  when  their  scarlet  uniforms  and  burnished  arms 
were  glistening  in  the  sunlight  of  that  beautiful  day.  Not 
a  furrow  had  been  turned  in  the  fields,  not  a  bud  was 
yet  seen  on  the  trees  nor  a  flower  in  the  valleys;  but  the 
first  warm  sunshine  of  spring  was  beginning  to  cast  its 
fays  upon  the  earth  and  enliven  nature  into  activity  again 
after  a  dreary  winter  of  repose.  It  was  not  a  day  that 
suggested  the  conflict  of  arms  or  shedding  of  blood;  but 
rather  the  lassitude  of  peace  and  the  dreaminess  of  rest. 
But  war,  like  death,  "has  all  seasons  for  its  own,"  and 
places  its  iron  hand  upon  ever}'  scene  of  beaut)-  and 
loveliness  without  consideration  or  remorse. 

The  last  remnant  of  the  Continental  army  in  the  South 
was  now  arrayed  in  front  of  the  British  commander  and  he 
fondly  hoped  that  its  rout  or  captivity  would  be  succeeded 
by  the  fall  of  Virginia   and  the  subjection  of  the  States. 

It  was  a  supreme  moment  in  the  life  of  Cornwallis  and 
the  crisis  of  the  revolution.  This  victory  won,  there  was 
no  foe  to  obstruct  his  passage  into  the  defenceless  prov- 
ince of  Virginia;  North  Carolina  would  be  at  the  mercy 
of  the  crown,  and  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  already 
prostrate  and  subdued,  could  never  rally  for  defence  again. 


24 


Should  Greene  be  beaten,  Cornwallis  could  take  up  his 
triumphal  march  to  the  sea  to  be  welcomed  by  the  En- 
glish fleets  which  rode  unchallenged  in  the  harbors  of 
Norfolk  and  New  York. 

The  prisoners  of  war  at  Charlottesville,  Virginia,  would 
be  set  free  to  plunder  and  pillage  their  captors.  France, 
capricious  and  fickle,  would  forsake  the  waning  fortune  of 
the  colonies,  and  making  peace  for  herself,  leave  her 
allies  to  their  fate.  Washington  would  be  crushed  by  the 
arm}'  of  Clinton  in  his  front  and  that  of  Cornwallis  in 
his  rear,  or  be  driven  into  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North 
for  refuge.  Congress  would  be  scattered  from  its  halls 
and  carry  dismay  wherever  the)'  fled  for  safety. 

These  were  the  precious  hopes  and  dazzling  visions 
that  stimulated  the  ambition  and  nerved  the  hand  of 
Cornwallis  for  the  battle  now  before  him.  The  greater 
the  odds  against  him,  the  greater  would  be  the  glory  of 
his  triumph  and  the  more  important  its  results. 

Not  only  hope  and  glory  allured  him  to  battle  but  re- 
taliation and  revenge  rankled  in  his  breast  and  drove  him 
to  desperate  deeds.  llis  Lieutenants,  Ferguson  and 
Tarleton,  had  been  defeated  and  humbled  by  the  militia 
of  North  Carolina  whom  they  despised,  and  British  pride 
demanded  that  the  insult  be  avenged. 

Every  officer  and  soldier  remembered  King's  Mountain 
and  Cowpens  and  were  eager  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of 
those  disastrous  fields. 

Nothing  but  news  of  misfortune  had  gone  to  Clinton 
from  the  army  of  invasion  since  the  frosts  of  October,  1780, 
had  chilled  their  zeal,  and  the  great  rival  of  Cornwallis 
was  secretly  gloating  oyer  the  misfortunes  of  his  personal 
and  political  enemy. 

The  recovery  of  prestige  and  the  restoration  of  royal 
confidence  added  a  powerful  incentive  to  the  achievement 
of  victory. 


25 

Cornwallis  resolved,  threfore,  that  "lie  would  conquer 
or  die"  on  this-  field,  and  the  reckless  exposure  of  his 
person  during  the  battle  indicated  the  determination  with 
which  he  entered  the  conflict. 

None  the  less  was  the  appreciation  of  the  American 
army  and  its  officers  of  the  decisive  crisis  which  was  now 
upon  them. 

General  Greene,  the  confidential  friend  and  trusted 
counselor  of  Washington,  had  been  selected  by  him  as 
the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Southern  Department  of 
the  American  army.  Their  friendship  had  begun  at 
Boston  with  the  first  enthusiastic  outburst  of  the  revolu- 
tion and  had  steadfastly  matured  in  the  camp  and  the 
council. 

"The  order  of  the  Commander  in  Chief,  which  assigned  General 
Nathanael  Greene  to  the  command  of  the  Southern  Department, 
bears  date  the  14th  of  October,  17S0.  Until  that  period,  his  stand- 
ing in  the  army  was  of  the  first  order  in  respectability;  he  enjoyed 
the  cofidence  of  Washington  and  of  the  country,  and  had  ever  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  the  man  and  the  soldier  with  fidelity  and  abil- 
ity. But  no  opportunities  had  yet  been  afforded  him  of  displaying 
those  eminent  talents  which  then  broke  upon  the  American  people, 
and  exhibited  a  splendour  of  military  character  excelled  only  by  him 
whom  none  can  equal. 

"  He  was  at  that  time  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  His 
stature  about  five  feet,  ten  or  eleven  inches;  his  frame  vigorous  and 
well  proportioned  ;  his  port  erect  and  commanding;  nor  was  his 
martial  appearance  diminished  by  a  slight  obstruction  in  the  motion 
of  his  right  leg,  contracted  in  early  life.  The  general  character  of 
his  face  was  that  of  manly  beauty.  His  fair  and  florid  complexion 
had  not  entirely  yielded  to  the  exposure  of  five  campaigns-;  nor  was 
a  slight  blemish  in  the  right  eye  observed,  but  to  excite  regret  that 
it  did  not  equal  the  benevolent  expression  and  brilliancy  of  the  left. 
Such  is  the  portrait  of  General  Greene." — Johnson,   Vol.  2,  p.  1. 

Washington,  himself  in  need  of  reinforcements,  had 
reduced  his  own  army  to  the  last  degree  of  weakness  to 


26 


strengthen  Gates,  and  had  nothing  to  give  the  South  but 
a  skillful  General  and  a  pure  patriot,  whose  personal  influ- 
ence and  military  reputation  might  arouse  the  martial 
spirit  of  his  department  and  enable  him  to  create  an 
army  for  defence.  lie  came  clothed  with  power  almost 
dictatorial,  and  with  an  undaunted  spirit  entered  on  the 
work  ot  his  mission.  lie  found  a  few  soldiers  at  Char- 
lotte, naked  and  hungry.  He  led  a  portion  ot  them  t<> 
the  fertile  fields  of  the  Yadkin  where  he  rested  them  in 
comfortable  cabins  in  the  forest. 

By  entreat}'  and  seizure  he  obtained  for  them  a  scant 
supply  of  clothing  and  an  abundance  of  food. 

Their  desponding  spirits  were  revived;  their  physical 
strength  was  regained  and  once  more  the)'  felt  like  sol- 
diers struggling  tor  freedom.  Greene  mingled  daily  with 
his  men,  encouraging  and  instructing  them,  bringing 
them  together  for  acquaintance,  th.it  mutual  confidence 
might  be  established. 

Discipline  and  drill  were  rigidly  enforced,  guns  re- 
paired, ammunition  gathered  and  every  preparation,  that 
the  resources  ot  the  country  afforded,  was  made  for  the 
campaign  which  he  expected  to  open  in  the  early  spring. 

These  were  the  men  who  were  suddenly  summoned  in 
the  very  depths  of  winter  to  leave  their  camps  and  cabins 
to  protect  the  retreat  of  Morgan,  who  was  flying  before 
the  whole  British  army. 

riie)-  were  veteran  soldiers,  though  their  numbers  did 
not  exceed  750  men.  They  had  heard  of  the  splendid 
victor}'  ot  their  comrades  at  Cow  pens  and  were  impatient 
to  emulate  them  in  deeds  of  glory.  To  the  victors  of 
the  Cowpens,  and  soldiers  of  the  camp,  was  added  the 
second  Maryland  regiment,  a  new  levy  of  regulars,  who 
were  as  yet  untrained  ami  inexperienced,  and  the  regi- 
ment of  Colonel  Green  of  Virginia  of  the  same  class  of 
troops.   These  constituted  the  Continental  line,  i4gostrong. 


^7 

To  these  were  added  about  <So  cavalry  and  So  infantry 
of  Lee's  Legion — a  corps  of  picked  men  from  the  veter- 
ans of  the  Northern  arm}',  of  whom  about  20  were  \ rir- 
ginians,  including  their  Lieutenant  Colonel. 

Colonel  Washington's  cavalry  numbered  about  90  men, 
recruited  here  and  there  in  the  Carolinas.  To  these  were 
added  a  fine  company  of  cavalry  from  North  Carolina, 
which  was  led  by  the  Marquis  of  Bretigny,  a  French 
nobleman,  who  had  trained  them  to  arms.  They  num- 
bered 40  select  men  and  were  an  honor  to  North  Carolina 
and  the  Captain  who  led  them. 

There  was  still  another  class  of  soldiers  who  came  to 
participate  in  this  battle  for  liberty,  the  Volunteer  Militia, 
as  distinguished  from  the  general  levy.  Men  wdio  were 
not  compelled  nor  hired  to  fight.  They  were  patriots 
from  honor  and  principle,  generally  of  the  intelligent 
and  religious  classes  who  came  voluntarily  to  offer  their 
lives  and  fortunes,  if  need  be,  as  sacrifices  to  their  coun- 
try. The}'  had  calculated  the  danger  and  taken  the  risk 
and  in  their  zeal  and  courage  and  noble  impulses  were  a 
formidable  and  dangerous  enemy. 

The  State  was  without  muskets  or  ammunition;  but 
each  of  these  volunteers  shouldered  his  hunting  rifle  and 
went  to  the  field  of  battle.  Generally  they  elected  their 
own  leaders  who  fought  with  the  rifle  as  did  the  soldier 
by  his  side.  It  was  the  Volunteer  Militia  who  alone 
fought  the  battle  of  Kings  Mountain  and  won  the  battle 
Cowpens.  They  were  all  experienced  in  Indian  warfare 
and  accustomed  to  the  hardships  of  the  camp.  All  of 
them  shot  the  rifle  with  unerring  aim  and  steady  hand. 
Their  courage  was  unflinching  and  their  hearts  were 
devoted  to  liberty.  They  came  from  the  mountains  and 
foothills  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

Greene  had  been  promised  by  Colonel  William  Camp- 
bell, of  Virginia,  that  he  would  bring:  to  his  assistance 


28 


one  thousand  of  these  hardy  "over-mountain  men"  and 
that  the  heroes  oi  Kings  Mountain  should  accompany 
him. 

Cornwallis  had  declared  that  he  would  hang  Campbell 
in  retaliation  lor  the  execution  oi  the  tories  at  Gilbert- 
town,  it  he  ever  captured  him,  and  Campbell  had  notified 
Cornwallis  that  his  riflemen  would  shoot  his  Lordship  as 
law  ful  game,  wherever  the}'  found  him.  The  two  horses 
shot  under  the  British  commander  showed  how  nearly 
they  fulfilled  the  threat. 

Hut  Colonel  Campbell  was  doomed  to  disappointment 
in  raising  the  force  he  contemplated.  Cornwallis,  appre- 
hending the  danger  from  the  riflemen  of'  the  mountains, 
had  early  after  his  arrival  in  the  up  country  sent  emissa- 
ries among  the  Cherokees  with  presents  and  falsehoods 
to  stir  them  up  to  invade  and  plunder  and  desolate  the 
frontiers.  This  same  Cornwallis,  whom  Colonel  Lee,  in 
his  exuberance  of  generosity,  has  called  the  "amiable 
Cornwallis,"  was  as  destitute  of  humanity  or  mercy  as 
the  savage  whom  he  incited  by  deception  and  fraud  to 
these  deeds  of  cruelty.  lie  was  newer  "amiable"  until 
the  blood  of  his  own  men  was  made  to  atone  for  their 
cruel  deeds  by  the  victors  at  Kings  Mountain. 

In  February,  [781,  the  Cherokees  invaded  the  frontiers 
of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  the  over-mountain 
men  under  Shelby,  Sevier  and  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell 
[the  brother-in-law  of  Colonel  William  Campbell]  had 
embodied  all  their  forces  to  repel  them. 

Their  hands  were  full,  resisting  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping  knife  and  torch  which  the  "amiable  Cornwallis" 
had  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  savage  for  their  destruc- 
tion. Colonel  William  Campbell,  in  the  bitterness  of  dis- 
appointment, had  to  report  to  General  Greene  on  the  7th 
of  March,  with  only  60  followers,  but  "one  blast  from  his 
bugle  horn  were  worth  a  thousand  men."      The  author  of 


29 

the  "Rear  Guard  of  the  Revolution," an  avowed  and  un- 
principled enemy  of  North  Carolina,  may  perhaps  be 
quoted  as  a  witness  when  he  permits  his  enmity  and 
malignity  to  speak  a  word  of  truth  for  the  State. 

He  states  that  General  Greene  had  written  Sevier  re- 
minding him  of  his  glorious  deeds  at  Kind's  Mountain 
ami  earnestly  urging  him  to  come  to  his  aid  with  all  the 
mountaineers  he  could  muster.  These  appeals  fell  on 
willing  ears  but  Sevier's  hands  were  tied — his  men  had 
now  again  to  fight  for  their  own  homes  and  firesides. 

"However,  he  despatched  a  small  force  under  Charles 
Robertson  to  General  Greene  and  they  soon  after  gave  a 
good  account  of  themselves  at  Guilford."  These  men 
were  from  Sullivan  count}',  North  Carolina,  which  county 
Sevier  often  represented  in  the  Legislature  of  this  State. 

Ramsey,  in  his  Annals  of  Tennessee,  page  251,  also 
says  that  in  response  to  Greene's  earnest  entreaties  "a 
few  of  the  pioneers  of  Tennessee  were  under  his  (Greene's 
command)  at  the  hardly  contested  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
House."  I  beg  that  this  fact  be  noted  because  no  official 
report  of  General  Greene,  or  his  Adjutant  General,  pro- 
fesses to  give  an  account  of  the  volunteer  forces  in  the 
action  and  we  can  only  get  credit  for  what  is  due  North 
Carolina  by  these  little  incidents  of  history  casually 
mentioned  by  authors  who  received  it  from  the  soldiers 
of  that  day,f  or  from  tradition  in  their  families. 

Here  then  was  undoubtedly  a  small  body  of  as  good 
soldiers  and  hardy  riflemen  as  "ever  drew  a  bead  on  a 
red-coat" — perhaps  one  hundred  strong,  all  North  Caro- 
linians. 

Would  it  be  invidious  to  suggest,  as  Colonel  William 
Campbell  lived  in  the  county  of  Virginia  contiguous  to 
Sullivan  and  Washington,  North  Carolina,  that  for  the 
time  these  men  placed  themselves  under  his  command, 
while   his   own   fellow-citizens   were   absent   fighting  the 


30 


Indians,  and  that  these  constituted  the  mountain-men 
with  whom  Campbell  reported  to  Greene. 

Tin's  swapping  of  men  on  the  border  was  an  every  day 
occurrence  where  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  general 
laws  defining  military  boundaries.  The  population  was 
sparse,  inter-married  with  each  other,  far  from  the  central 
government  and  were  a  'daw  unto  themselves,"  in  both 
a  military  and  civil  capacity. 

At  any  rate,  here  were  North  Carolina  riflemen  in  the 
battle  for  whom  no  historian  has  given  us  credit.  Let  us 
estimate  them  .it  [oo  men.  Johnson's  Life  of  Greene,  the 
author  oi  which  was  unkindly  disposed  to  North  Caro- 
lina, relates  that  on  the  day  of  Pyle's  defeat,  the  26th 
day  ot  February,  [781,  "two  small  detachments  of  about 
100  men  each,  under  Majors  Winston  and  Armstrong" 
joined  the  command  of  Pickens.  This  you  will  note  was 
oid_\-  [8  daws  before  the  battle  and  we  learn  from  Colonel 
Lenoir's  narrative,  in  his  application  for  a  pension,  under 
the  act  of  [832,  that  this  force,  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected were  with  Pickens  up  to  the  7th  of  March,  when 
he  joined  Greene,  and  that  Lenoir  being  clerk  of  the 
Court,  at  that  time,  of  Wilkes  count)',  and  the  week  for 
court  having  arrived,  he  obtained  leave  of  absence  for 
six  weeks,  leaving  his  comrades  with  Greene.  They 
were  to  seiwe,  therefore,  for  six  weeks  longer  which 
placed  them  in  service  far  beyond  the  battle.  If  con- 
firmatory testimony  were  necessary  we  have  the  direct 
testimony  of  Lyman  C.  Draper,  who  gives  the  biography 
of  Major  Winston  in  his  just  and  admirable  book  entitled 
"Kings  Mountain  and  its  Heroes."  He  states  positively 
that  Winston  was  present  and  "shared  with  Greene  the 
fortunes  of  Guilford  Court   House." 

It  is  not  only  true  that  these  riflemen  of  Surry  were 
present  but  the)-  were  the  very  last  to  leave  the  field 
after  Tarleton's  final  charge  which  dispersed  the    Ameri- 


3i 

can  forces  on  the  left;  for  in  that  charge  Tolliafferro  "of 
Surry  was  killed"  and  Jesse  Franklin,  afterwards  Gover- 
nor of  North  Carolina  and  United  States  Senator  from 
this  State,  made  a  very  narrow  escape.  The  narrative 
of  these  occurrences  is  given  by  Caruthers,  in  his  sketches 
of  North  Carolina,  Second  Series,  upon  the  authority  of 
the  present  Judge  Jesse  Franklin  Graves,  a  grandson  of 
Governor  Franklin,  than  whom  no  better  man  or  purer 
Judge  now  adorns  the  bench  of  the  old  North  State. 

Here  now  were  two  hundred  more  Volunteer  riflemen 
from  North  Carolina  who  did  not  figure  on  the  military 
rolls  of  Greene's  Adjutant  General. 

Major  Joseph  Winston  was  the  Major  of  the  militia  of 
Surry  county  as  we  learn  from  his  title  and  rank  at  Kings 
Mountain;  exactly  how  his  comrade  in  arms,  Major 
Armstrong,  obtained  his  title  or  what  was  his  christian 
name  we  cannot  ascertain  now  with  certainty,  as  there 
were  two  of  the  Armstrongs  from  Surry  who  bore  them- 
selves gallantly  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Most  probably 
it  was  John  Armstrong  who  was  afterwards  distinguished 
in  the  Legislature  from  1782  to  1784. 

No  officer  had  been  more  distinguished  for  courage 
and  fortitude  at  Kings  Mountain  than  Major  Winston. 
He  led  the  van  of  attack  on  the  right  and  by  his  heroic 
daring  conducted  his  men  straight  forward  to  the  British 
camp  without  faltering  or  temporal')-  retreat." 

Pie  was  an  educated  gentlemen,  of  patriotic  impulses, 
early  devoted  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  a  soldier  of 
uncommon  merit.  He  survived  to  represent  his  county 
in  the  State  Senate  and  his  district  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  One  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  attrac- 
tive cities  of  the  State  bears  his  name. 

Another    patriot    band  from   Guilford   county  is  to  be 

*  Ramsey's  Tennessee,  p.  235-6. 


32 

added  to  the  riflemen  of  Surry  and  the  over-mountain 
men  of  Sullivan. 

When  the  junction  oi  Morgan's  and  Greene's  forces  took 
place  at  Guilford  Court  I  rouse  on  the  toth  day  of  February, 
1781,  they  found  there  200  men  from  Guilford  county, 
armed  with  rifles,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  James 
Martin,  at  that  time  Colonel  of  the  militia. 

In  the  council  oi  war  held  here  General  Greene  re- 
luctantly submitted  to  the  majority  of  his  officers,  who 
opposed  giving  Coj'nwallis  battle,  and  the  conclusion  of 
the  majority,  to  retreat  over  the  Dan,  was  adopted.  The 
Guilford  militia  under  Martin  were  not  compelled  to  leave 
the  State  but  about  100  of  them  volunteered  to  follow 
the  fortunes  of  Greene's  arm)-  wherever  it  led  them  and 
to  remain  till  the  British  were  driven  from  the  State. 
Thenceforth  they  belonged  to  the  patriot  band  of  volun- 
teers. Nearly  all  of  these  men  were  Scotch -Irish  Pres- 
byterians, belonging  to  the  churches  of  Alamance  and 
Buffalo  of  which  Rev.  David  Caldwell,  1).  \).,  was  pastor. 
rile)'  were  of  the  better  class  of  citizens,  who  were  in- 
telligent enough  to  understand  the  principles  which  were 
involved  in  the  struggle  for  liberty,  and  men  of  property 
sufficient  to  give  them  interest  in  the  result.  The)'  had 
inherited  from  their  church  and  ancestry  the  principles 
of  civil  liberty  and  the  courage  to  maintain  those  principles. 

They  were  no  hireling  mercenaries  nor  substitutes,  no 
drafted  militia,  but  manly  .patriots  who  came  to  contend 
for  liberty  or  to  shed  their  blood,  if  need  be,  in  its 
defence. 

The\'  had  been  Whigs  from  the  beginning  of  the  strug- 
gle, and  following  the  doctrines  inculcated  by  their  dis- 
tinguished pastor  had  steadfastly  adhered  to  the  cause 
of  independence. 

Most  of  them  had  been  sympathizers  with  the  "Regu- 
lators"   in    the    inception    of    that    movement    when    its 


33 

objeects  were  lawful  and  just,  but  had  not  adhered  to 
their  fortunes  when  they  ran  into  excess  and  licentious- 
ness under  the  leadership  of  Herman  Husbands  and 
others.  They  were  willing  to  resist  the  payment  of  ex- 
tortionate fees  to  sheriffs  and  clerks,  but  they  would  not 
endorse  the  dishonest  resolutions  that  no  taxes  nor  debts 
should  be  paid. 

When  the  legitimate  struggle  for  liberty  came  they 
were  still  Whigs  and  rebels;  but  found  many  of  those  who 
had  gone  to  excess  as  regulators,  fighting  them,  on  the 
British  side,  as  tories;  mostly  those  who  had  been  par- 
doned by  the  Crown  and  seduced  by  blandishments  and 
office  to  forsake  the  principles  they  had  avowed. 

These  one  hundred  Guilford  county  men,  Volunteer 
soldiers,  had  been  marching  and  countermarching  with 
General  Greene,  and  when  the  15th  day  of  March  came 
it  found  them  in  line  of  battle,  as  a  separate  organization 
under  the  command  of  Arthur  Forbis,  a  ruling  elder  of 
the  Alamance  Presbyterian  church. 

He  had  been  elected  Captain  by  the  men  of  Alamance, 
the  Wileys,  Paisleys,  Gillespies,  Montgomerys  and  others, 
whose  names  I  do  not  know,  but  on  the  eventful  day  of  the 
battle  here,  Colonel  James  Martin  was  assigned  to  other 
duty  and  the  captaincy  of  this  '  'Centurions  Band"  devolved 
upon  Forbis.  He  yielded  up  his  life  for  the  cause  and 
from  that  day  forth,  as  Colonel  James  T.  Morehead  has 
so  happily  described  it,  "He  was  brevetted  as  Colonel 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  his  fellow-citizens,"  and  has 
gone  into  the  annals  of  history  as  Colonel  Arthur  Forbis 
of  Guilford. 

These  men  fought  under  the  eye  of  Lieut-Colonel  Lee, 
and  he  has  so  far  relaxed  his  predjudices  as  to  say  that 
they  refused  to  fly  before  the  British  bayonet  and  adhered 
to  the  command  of  Campbell  throughout  the  bloody 
conflict  on  the  left. 


34 

So  that  of  the  Volunteer  soldiers,  who  fought  so  gal- 
lantly here  on  this  day,  we  have: 

Winston's  Command ioo  men. 

Armstrong's  Command ioo  men. 

Sevier's  Men,  under  Robertson ioo  men. 

The  Men  of  Guilford ioo  men. 

North  Carolina  Cavalry 40  men. 

Total 440  men. 

For  whom  North  Carolina  has  heretofore  received  no 
credit,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  were  not  regular  sol- 
diers and  did  not  appear  on  the  muster  rolls  of  the  army. 

There  was  still  another  indefinite  number  of  North 
Carolinians,  volunteers,  who  fought  under  Greene  that 
day.  About  the  10th  of  March,  General  Greene  detached 
Pickens  and  his  Brigade  of  North  Carolinians  to  the 
Yadkin  to  collect  a  force  in  the  rear  of  Cornwallis.  Their 
time  had  expired,  but  a  number  of  these  men,  perceiving 
that  a  pitched  battle  was  imminent,  determined  to  remain 
and  share  the  fortunes  of  the  American  Commander. 

Among  this  number  was  Abram  Forney,  of  Lincoln, 
a  prominent  citizen  of  that  county,  whose  testimony  to 
an  incident  of  this  battle  I  shall  hereafter  use,  and 
Caruthers  names  a  dozen  citizens  of  Guilford  and  the 
surrounding  counties  who  shouldered  their  rifles  and 
marched  to  the  Court  House  when  the)"  heard  that  Gen- 
eral Greene  had  advanced  to  that  point.  When  asked, 
"Where  are  you  going?"  the  response  was,  "To  the  big 
Shooting  Match,"  and  if  space  were  allowed  for  humor  I 
could  relate  how  well  and  how  often  they  "drove  the 
centre"  on  that  day. 

We  ma}'  safely  and  justly  assert  that  North  Carolina 
had  at  least  500  Volunteer  Riflemen  in  this  field  of  battle. 
Hereafter  we  shall  show  their  positions  and  their  conduct. 

Virginia  had  her  volunteer  soldiers  too.  Colonel  Wil- 
liam  Campbell,   he  of  Kings   Mountain,   towered    above 


35 

them  all.  He  had  but  few  personal  followers,  but  his  po- 
sition, experience  and  skill  entitled  him  to  the  command. 
He  had  60  men  when  he  united  with  Pickens  on  the  same 
day  that  Winston  and  Armstrong  did.  Colonel  Lynch, 
with  his  riflemen  two  hundred  strong,  came  also,  and 
Captain  Thomas  Watkins,  with  a  company  of  cavalry, 
one  of  whom  was  the  giant,  Peter  Francisco,  so  well 
known  in  Virginia  history — in  all  perhaps  40  men* — the 
whole  aggregating  about  600  volunteers. 

These  were  divided,  as  we  shall  see,  on  the  right  and 
left  flanks. 

Colonel  Lee  refused  to  allow  Captain  Watkins  to  join 
his  Legion  because  they  were  not  well  enough  dressed; 
but  Washington,  who  was  the  old  "Rough  and  Ready" 
of  his  day,  gladly  gave  them  welcome  and  they  fought 
like  Turks  under  his  command. 

The  militia  was  the  third  class  of  troops  in  Greene's 
army.  The  North  Carolina  militia,  composed,  as  we 
have  incidentally  stated,  of  two  brigades.  The  old 
honest  regulator,  General  John  Butler,  of  Orange,  who 
had  spent  his  life  fighting  against  British  oppression,  com- 
manded one  Brigade  of  500  men,  and  General  Eaton,  of 
Halifax, commanded  the  other — the  whole  about  i,ooomen. 

The  Virginia  militia  were  commanded  by  Generals 
Stevens  and  Lawson,  both  of  whom  had  been  regular 
soldiers.  In  Stevens'  command  were  about  600  veterans 
who  had  seen  three  years  service  under  Washington  and 
many  of  whom  were  now  hired  substitutes  for  drafted 
Virginians.  These  two  brigades  have  been  variously 
estimated  at  from  1,200  to  1,900  men — perhaps  the  mid- 
dle is  the  safe  ground,  about  1,650  men. 

The  artillery  force  consisted  of  sixty  men  and  four  six 
pounder  brass  pieces  of  cannon.     They  were  under  the 
command  of  Major  Singleton. 
*  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  First  Series,  p.  403. 


After  a  careful  and  patient  research  among  the  various 
authors  who  have  described  the  battle  I  believe  the  above 
to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  number  and  class  of  troops 
under  General  Greene's  command  on  that  day,  the  whole 
number  being  about  five  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty 
[5,140]  men  of  all  arms.  Cornwallis  estimate  1  the  Amer- 
icans at  7,000,  but  this  is  an  exaggeration.  Colonel  Lee 
says  about  4,000,  but  the  truth,  as  usual,  lies  in  the  middle. 

There  was  one  North  Carolinian  more,  whose  name 
deserves  the  encomium  bestowed  upon  it. 

Colonel  William  Richardson  Davie  was  at  this  time 
General  Greene's  Commissary-General.  He  was  then 
but  twenty-five  years  old  and  yet  his  brilliant  and  dash- 
ing career  had  given  him  renown  as  a  soldier.  He  was 
a  young  lawyer  at  Salisbury  when  the  tocsin  of  war  was 
sounded.  His  fortune  was  not  large  but  he  spent  it  all 
to  equip  a  company  of  cavalry  which  he  led  against  the 
enemy.  He  was  the  most  successful  partisan  leader  of 
his  State  and  had  struck  terror  into  the  British  outposts 
and  exhibited  a  daring  at  Charlotte,  in  facing  the  army 
of  Cornwallis,  that  made  him  the  center  of  attraction 
in  the  whole  army.  General  Greene  discovering  his 
genius  and  power  offered  him  the  position  of  Commissary- 
General,  which  at  first  he  repelled  with  some  impatience; 
but  when  the  like  promise  was  made  to  him  that  was 
made  to  Greene  at  the  time  he  was  appointed  Quarter- 
Master-General  of  the  arm>-  of  Washington,  -that  he 
might  participate  freely  in  the  fighting,  he  yielded  re- 
luctantly to  the  earnest  request  of  General  Greene  to 
accept  the  office.  He  was  in  closer  confidential  rela- 
tions with  General  Greene  than  an)-  officer  of  his  army 
and  this  confidence  continued  to  the  end  without  abate- 
ment or  cause  for  complaint.  One  who  often  fought  by 
his  side  says: 

"  Davie  was  not  only  distinguished  as  an  intelligent  but  an   in- 


"  trepid  soldier.  His  delight  was  to  lead  a  charge;  and  possessing 
''great  bodily  strength,  united  with  uncommon  activity,  is  said  to 
"have  overcome  more  men  in  personal  conflict  than  any  individual 
"' in  the  service."* 

Another  author  (Moore)  thus  describes  him: 

'•He  was  then  fresh  from  hi=>  law  books  and  but  twenty-five  years 
of  age.  Tall,  graceful  and  strikingly  handsome,  he  had  those  graces 
of  person  which  would  have  made  him  the  favorite  in  the  clanging 
lists  of  feudal  da\s.  To  this  he  added  elegant  culture,  thrilling 
eloquence  and  a  graciousness  of  manner  which  was  to  charm  in  after 
days  the  gilded  salons  of  Paris.  His  dauntless  valor  was  supervised 
by  a  sleepless  outlook  against  surprise." 

By  his  intrepid  daring  and  fearless  exposure  of  his 
person  on  every  hand  he  encouraged  the  soldiers  to  firm- 
ness and  fortitude,  and  set  them  an  example  which  in- 
cited them  to  the  discharge  of  duty. 

He  lived  to  represent  North  Carolina  in  Congress,  to 
become  her  Governor,  to  found  her  University  and  to 
represent  the  Nation  at  the  splendid  Court  of  Versailles. 

The  order  in  which  General  Greene  fought  his  troops 
was,  as  much  as  possible,  an  imitation  of  the  arrange- 
ment of  General  Morgan  at  the  Cowpens.  It  had  proven 
emminently  successful  in  that  instance,  though  fought 
against  a  foe  superior  in  numbers,  in  discipline  and  arms 
and  it  was  but  natural  that  General  Greene  should  repeat 
the  experiment  when  fighting  the  same  foe  under  much 
more  favorable  circumstances.  General  Greene  had  no 
experience  in  the  mode  of  Southern  warfare  and  hav- 
ing great  confidence  in  Morgan  who  had  been  brought 
up  from  boyhood  to  fight  the  Indians  on  the  frontier,  it 
was  not  strange  that  he  should  defer  greatly  to  his 
counsel  and  advice.  Morgan  had  been  stricken  down 
with   rheumatism   on   the  retreat  from  Cowpens  and  was 

*  Garden's  Anecdotes  of  the  Revolution. 


38 

compelled  to  seek  rest  and  medical  aid,  but  his  affection 
for  Greene  and  his  ardent  patriotism  induced  him  to  write 
to  his  commander,  on  the  20th  of  February,  nearly  a 
month  before  the  battle,  and  surest  to  him  how  he 
should  fight  Cornwallis:  "Put  the  militia  in  the  centre" 
said  he,  with  some  picked  troops  in  their  rear  with  orders 
to  shoot  down  the  first  man  that  runs,  select  the  riflemen 
and  fight  them  on  the  flanks  under  enterprising  officers 
who  are  acquainted  with  this  kind  of  fighting." 

Greene  knew  that  Washington  had  disapproved  this 
arrangement  of  troops.  That  he  did  not  think  that  un- 
disciplined or  inexperienced  militia,  without  bayonets, 
who  had  newer  been  in  battle,  nor  subject  to  the  demoral- 
izing influence  of  a  cannonade  on  raw  troops,  should  be 
placed  in  front  to  receive  the  first  and  fiercest  onset  of 
regulars  and  veterans  who  had  been  converted  into  mili- 
tary machines  by  long  discipline  and  arduous  service. 
Washington's  plan  was  to  place  his  best  troops  in  front 
and  use  the  militia  as  a  reserve. 

General  Greene  has  also  been  criticised  for  placing  his 
lines  too  far  apart,  so  as  not  to  be  in  supporting  distance 
of  eacli  other.  It  was  argued,  therefore,  that  Cornwallis 
was  not  compelled  to  fight  but  one  line  at  an}'  one 
time  and  that  he  was  superior  to  any  one  of  the  single 
lines.  But  it  is  reasonable  and  customary  in  all  the 
affairs  of  human  life,  whether  civil  or  military,  to  imi- 
tate that  which  has  proven  successful  under  like  circum- 
stances before.  We  should  not  therefore  be  ready  to 
condemn  General  Greene  for  following  the  example  and 
advice  of  General  Morgan  because  his  victor}'  was  not  so 
complete  as  Morgan's.  Perhaps  if  Morgan  had  fought 
Cornwallis  instead  of  Tarleton  the  result  of  Cowpens 
would  not  have  been  so  decisive  and  glorious  to  the 
American  arms;  and  it  must  also  be  carefully  considered 
that  the   militia    under  Morgan  were  all  volunteers    who 


39 

had  been  in  main-  battles  on  the  frontiers  and  were  but 
recently  flushed  with  their  magnificent  victor}'  at  Kings 
Mountain.  General  Morgan  too  "was  at  that  time  the 
ablest  commander  of  light  troops  in  the  world.""" 

General  Greene,  as  we  have  heretofore  stated,  had 
selected  this  battle  field  on  the  iith  of  February,  on  his 
retreat,  and  he  had  now  been  here  a  whole  day  and  sur- 
veyed the  ground  and  roads  in  the  vicinity  anew  and  was 
familiar  with  every  avenue  of  approach  and  escape.  He 
had  taken  his  field  officers  over  the  grounds  and  thor- 
oughly instructed  them  in  the  parts  they  were  to  act  in 
the  approaching  conflict. 

The  strongest  reasons  for  the  selection  of  this  spot  were: 

First.  That  the  highways  diverging  from  Guilford 
Court  House  afforded  three  lines  of  retreat  in  case  of 
disaster,  so  that  his  army  could  not  be  totally  routed  or 
destroyed  as  was  that  of  Gates  at  Camden. 

If  the  American  left  were  turned,  as  it  was,  the  retreat 
was  open  by  the  road  going  North  to  McQuistian's 
bridge;  if  the  right  flank  were  turned,  the  High  Rock 
Road,  running  Northeast  was  an  avenue  of  escape,  or  in 
the  last  resort  the  road  going  directly  east  to  Hillsboro 
might  be  utilized. 

The  second  reason  was  that  there  was  space  enough, 
and  strong  positions  in  the  forest,  wdiere  the  militia  could 
fight  to  advantage  behind  fences  and  trees  as  was  their 
custom,  and  be  able  to  protect  themselves  from  the 
charge  of  cavalry.  Nothing  in  the  warfare  of  that  day 
was  so  terrible  to  the  minds  of  militia  as  exposure  to 
cavalry,  and  especially  when  commanded  by  so  brutal  a 
butcher  as  Tarleton. 

With  these  considerations  and  hopes,  General  Greene 
formed  his  army,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  March, 
into  three  lines  of  battle  which  I  shall  now  endeavor  to 
describe  and  point  out  to  you  as  intelligently  as  possible. 

*  Bancroft,  Vol.  5,  p.  480. 


41 

To  our  right  and  west  of  where  we  stand,  about  2<So 
yards,  behind  a  rail  fence,  in  the  skirt  of  the  wood,  facing 
the  field  in  front,  which  had  been  in  corn  the  year  before, 
were  placed  the  North  Carolina  militia,  about  iooo  strong; 
the  left  flank  of  General  Eaton's  brigade  resting  on  the 
New  Garden  or  Old  Salisbury  road,  which  is  just  to  the 
rear  of  our  stand,  and  the  right  flank  of  General  John 
Butler's  brigade  resting  on  the  same  road  and  to  the  left 
and  South  of  Eaton's  brigade.  The  old  broom  sedge  field 
which  we  see  now,  where  Eaton  stood,  was  in  forest  at  that 
day.  On  the  right  flank  of  Eaton's  brigade  were  placed 
Colonel  William  Washington's  cavalry,  the  North  Caro- 
lina Cavalry  under  the  Marquis  of  Bretigny,  Capt.  Wat- 
kin's  cavalry,  Kirkwood's  Delawares  and  a  portion  of 
Lynch's   riflemen. 

On  the  left  of  Butler's  brigade  was  Capt.  Arthur  Forbis 
with  his  Guilford  county  Volunteers,  about  ioo  strong, 
and  Colonel  William  Campbell's  command  consisting  of 
Preston's  volunteers  from  Virginia,  Winston's  and  Arm- 
strong's Volunteer  riflemen  from  Surry  count}',  North 
Carolina,  Robertson's  ioo  men  from  Sullivan  count)-. 
North  Carolina,  Colonel  Campbell's  60  men  and  Lee's 
Legion.  This  Legion  was  recruited  as  picked  men  from 
the  whole  Northern  army,  and  now7  numbered  about  one 
hundred  and  sixty  men,  about  equally  divided  as  cavalry 
and  infantry. 

Both  these  flanking,  or  covering  parties,  were  in  a  line 
oblique  to  the  militia,  so  as  to  give  a  raking  fire  upon  the 
British  flanks  as  they  approached.  Campbell's  line  was 
nearly  perpendicular  to  the  North  Carolina  militia  on  the 
left  and  was  also  behind  a  fence  skirting  the  wood. 

In  the  New  Garden  road,  between  Eaton's  left  and 
Butler's  right,  were  placed  two  six  pounder  brass  pieces 
under  the  command  of  Major  Singleton. 

The  second  line  was  parallel  to  the   first,   very   nearly 


4^ 

three  hundred  yards  to  the  east  of  it,  and  just  about  where 
this  stand  is  now  located. 

General  Lawson's  brigade  was  on  the  north  side  of  the 
New  Garden  road,  with  its  left  resting  upon  it.  General 
Stevens'  brigade  was  on  the  south  side,  with  its  right 
resting  on  the  road. 

In  the  rear  of  this  second  line,  by  the  advice  of  Mor- 
gan, Genera]  Stevens  had  placed  a  row  of  riflemen,  called 
sentinels,  with  orders  to  shoot  down  the  first  Virginia 
militiaman  who  deserted  his  post.  This  weakened  the 
force  of  riflemen  in  front,  who  were  to  fight  the  enemy, 
and  transformed  them  into  an  enemy's  line  in  the  rear, 
rhe  orders  to  fire  on  every  recreant  soldier  were  very 
positive.  General  Stevens  had  witnessed  the  shameful 
stampede  <^(  his  men,  "without  firing  a  shot,"  at  Camden 
in  tlie  August  before,  and  had  determined  to  arrest  an- 
other such  disgrace  here.  To  this  sanguinary  order  is 
perhaps  attributable  the  slightly  greater  loss  in  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Virginia,  over  the  North  Carolina  militia.  How 
many  of  the  Virginians  were  shot  down  by  these  senti- 
nels is  not  reported.  The  order,  however,  must  have 
been  rigidly  enforced  on  Stevens'  side  of  the  road,  for 
his  command  fought  longer  and  better  than   Lawson's. 

The  third  line  of  battle  was  formed  about  350  yards  to 
our  left,  and  east  of  us  in  the  old  field  to  the  north  of  the 
New  Garden  road.  It  was  composed  of  four  regiments, 
the  left,  or  Second  Maryland  regiment,  commanded  by  Col- 
onel Ford,  resting  on  the  New  Garden  road  near  where  it 
crosses  the  rivulet.  On  its  right,  in  a  line  oblique  to  the 
highway,  and  following  the  slope  of  the  hill,  was  the  First 
Maryland  under  Colonel  Gunby.  These  two  regiments 
formed  the  Maryland  Brigade  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Otho  Williams.  On  the  right  of  the  First  Mary- 
land was  Colonel  Hawes'  regiment  of  Virginians.  To  its 
right   was    Colonel   Green's  regiment  of  Virginians,   the 


43 

two  forming  a  brigade  under  General  Huger,  of  South 
Carolina.  On  the  right  of  the  First  Maryland  and  be- 
tween it  and  the  left  of  Hawes'  regiment,  at  the  point  of 
the  line,  were  two  more  brass  six  pounders  under  Lieut. 
Finley. 

In  the  earl\-  morning  Colonel  Lee,  with  his  Legion  and 
a  detachment  under  Campbell,  had  been  sent  forward, 
west,  on  the  New  Garden  road,  to  feel  the  enemy  and 
give  notice  of  his  advance.  A  very  sharp  engagement 
soon  followed  between  Lee  and  Tarleton,  at  New  Garden 
meeting  house,  in  which  Lee  was  unhorsed,  but  it  was  not 
long  before  Lee  was  compelled  to  retreat  before  the  ad- 
vance of  the  whole  English  army.  He  advised  Greene  of 
the  advance  of  Cornwallis,  and  then  took  his  place  in  the 
wood  near  to  and  in  the  rear  of  the  line  of  Volunteers 
under  Forbis. 

General  Greene  was  at  this  time  at  the  front  line  and 
there  received  the  news  of  the  coming  battle. 

He  again  imitated  the  example  of  General  Morgan  at 
Cowpens  by  riding  along  his  front  line  of  militia  and 
exhorting  it  to  a  firm  discharge  of  duty. 

The  scene  is  thus  depicted  by  George  Washington 
Greene  in  his  Biography  of  his  Grandfather,  vol.  3,  p. 
196: 

"When  these  arrangements  were  completed  General  Greene  passed 
along  the  first  line.  The  day  was  hot,  and  holding  his  hat  in  one 
hand,  he  was  wiping  the  perspiration  from  his  ample  forehead  with 
the  other.  His  voice  was  clear  and  firm  as  he  called  his  men's  at- 
tention to  the  strength  of  their  position  and,  like  Morgan  at  the  Cow- 
pens,  asked  only  three  ronnds.  "  Three  round?,  my  boys,  and  then  you 
may  fall  back."  "Then  taking  hisposition  with  the  Continentals  he 
held  himself  in  readiness  to   go  wherever  his  duty   might  call  him." 

The  only  error  in  this  statement  is  in  the  number  of 
rounds  required  of  the  militia  before  they  were  to  fall 
back. 


44 

All  historians  agree  that  Morgan  only  required  two 
rounds  instead  of  three.  Garden,  who  was  one  of  Lee's 
Legion  and  heard  the  speech  says: 

"  The  Xorth  Carolina  militia  were  assured  by  General  Greene 
that  if  they  would  only  preserve  their  station  long  enough  to  give 
their  enemy  two  fires  they  should  obtain  his  free  permission  to  re- 
tire from  the  held. — Garden's  Anecdotes,  p.   40." 

Gordon's  History,  Vol.  4,  page  55,  has  also  this  lan- 
guage: 

"  General  Stevens  had  the  address  to  prevent  his  brigade  from 
receiving  any  bad  impression  from  the  retreating  Xorth  Carolinians 
by  giving  out  that  they  had  orders  to  retite  after  discharging  their 
pieces.  To  cherish  this  idea  he  ordered  his  men  to  open  their  riles 
to  favor  their  passage." 

It  is  evident  that  General  Stevens  and  his  whole  com- 
mand were  apprised  of  the  order  to  the  Xorth  Carolina 
militia  'as  they  should  have  been,;  to  prevent  surprise 
ami  panic  in  their  ranks  by  the  retreat  ol  the  Xorth  Caro- 
linians in  their  front.  Gordon  affects  to  believe  this  was 
a  ruse  of  General  Stevens  but  in  this  he  is  manifestly  in 
error.  The  order  was  given  just  as  General  Stevens 
communicated  it  to  his  command. 

Rev.  L.  W,  Caruthers,  D.  D.,  who  wrote  the  life  of  Rev. 
Dr.  David  Caldwell  in  1842,  had  been  over  the  battle 
field  of  Guilford  Court  House  very  often  in  company  with 
the  soldiers  who  participated  in  the  battle  and  had  con- 
versed with  many  old  people  of  the  neighborhood  who 
knew  its  history  from  their  cotemporariesand  was  therefore 
familiar  with  the  incidents  and  traditions  of  the  battle. 
Robert  Rankin,  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  church,  often 
pointed  out  the  different  localities  of  the  field,  especially 
on  the  left  where  Rankin  fought  under  Colonel  Campbell 
among  the  Xorth  Carolina  riflemen.  With  this  familiar 
knowledge  of  events,  Dr.  Caruthers  assumes  in    his    Life 


45 

of  Caldwell,  as  an  established  fact,  known  by  everybody, 
that  the  militia  were  ordered  to  fire  twice  and  then  re- 
treat. Speaking  of  Capt.  Forbis'  command,  page  236, 
he  says: 

"  They  stood  firm  until  they  had  fired  twice,  according  to  orders" 
Again  he  says: 

"They  were  placed  in  the  front  rank,  stood  firm  and  tired  the 
number  of  times  prsscribed  in  the  general  order.  Forbis  himself  fired 
the  first  gun  in  that  division,  and  killed  his  man  " 

There  are  several  incidental  allusions  to  this  "order" 
to  fire  twice  and  always  as  one  of  the  unquestionable  facts 
connected  with  the  battle. 

It  is  not,  however,  emphasised  because  the  Doctor  was 
writing  the  biography  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  and 
not  a  defence  of  the  North  Carolina  militia  and  the  order 
was  only  a  collateral  fact  in  the  narrative. 

Subsequently,  in  1S56,  Dr.  Caruthers,  in  his  Sketches — 
Second  Series — vindicated  the  North  Carolina  militia 
from  the  charge  of  inefficiency  in  the  battle. 

G.  W.  Greene  says  it  was  communicated  to  him  as  a 
tradition.  It  was  indeed  a  fact  well  known  and  often 
spoken  of  by  old  persons  to  succeeding  generations,  and 
it  is  incomprehensible  that  a  fact  so  wrell  known  and  un- 
derstood should  have  been  omitted,  in  his  Memoirs,  by 
Colonel  Lee  who  must  have  heard  it,  for  he  was  on  the 
front  line  when  the  order  was  given.  It  is  inexplicable 
that  Johnson  too,  who  had 'access  to  General  Greene's 
correspondence  and  papers  should  have  suppressed  it, 
while  he  gives  great  prominence  to  the  like  order  of  Gen- 
eral Morgan  at  Cowpens. 

I  have  in  my  possession  also  an  interesting  letter  from 
Captain  James  F.  Johnson,  of  Charlotte,  N.  C,  giving 
me  the  statement  of  Abram  Forney,    of  Lincoln  county, 


46 

who  remained  for  the  battle  after  Pickens'  brigade  had 
gone  Forney  state-  distinctly  that  it  was  "  two  rounds  " 
and  adds  that  his  portion  of  the  line  obeyed  the  order 
fully. 

There  can  be  nothing  settled  by  testimony  more 
certainly  than  the  fact  that  the  North  Carolina  militia 
were,  by  the  personal  order  of  General  Greene,  directly 
instructed/,'  ft  re  twice  and  assured  that  he  required  no 
more  of  them.  And  it  is  the  failure  to  observe  and 
state  this  all  important  fact  that  has  placed  these 
troops  in  a  false  light  before  their  posterity.  \\  hen  we 
reflect  for  a  moment,  this  order  is  so  reasonable  and 
natural  that  we  cannot  doubt  the  truth  oi  the  assertion 
that  it  was  given.  We  may  suppose  that  Morgan's  order 
was  further  imitated  by  advising  that  the  fires  be  given 
"  at  fifty  yards." 

Idle  North  Carolinians  were  armed  with  their  hunting 
rifles.  The_\'  carried  their  powder  in.  a  powder  horn  with, 
a  charger  attached.  Their  bullets  and  patching  were  in 
a  pouch  to  their  left  side  and  the  tallow  to  grease  the 
patching  under  a  spring  in  the  stock  of  the  rifle.  To 
load  a  rifle  required  that  the  powder  be  measured  in  the 
charger  and  poured  carefully  into  the  small  muzzle  bore 
of  the  rifle,  ddie  patching  was  to  be  greased  and  placed 
over  the  muzzle  and  the  ball  placed  upon  it  and  pressed 
into  the  gun.  A  knife  was  then  used  to  cut  off  the  sur- 
plus patching.  The  ball  was  to  be  rammed  down  the 
gun  with  a  ramrod  which  was  then  to  be  replaced  in  the 
thimbles  along  the  barrel.  The  last  operation  was  to 
prime  the  pan  in  the  flint  and  steel  lock  before  the  rifle- 
man was  read\-  to  fire  upon  his  enemy.  The  operation 
required  at  least  two  or  three  minutes  to  perform  it. 

If  the  British  line  were  fired  upon  at  fifty  yards  they 
could  be  over  the  intervening  ground  in  less  than  fifty- 
seconds,  or   if  at  one  hundred  yards    in    one  and    a    half 


■  47 

minutes.  So  that  unless  the  British  line  was  repulsed  in 
its  advance  by  the  deadliness  of  the  fire  they  would  he 
upon  the  militia  before  it  was  possible  to  load  three  times, 
or  if  the  operation  of  loading  were  delayed,  by  trepida- 
tion, before  they  could  fire  t'wice. 

It  is  evident  that  General  Greene,  as  well  as  every  rea- 
sonable person,  expected  that  the  militia  would  give  way 
whenever  the  bayonet  did  reach  them;  for  against  it  they 
had  no  arm  of  defence  nor  discipline  to  beat  it  back.  John- 
son well  remarks  in  speaking  of  the  terror  of  the  bayo- 
net that  "  nothing  but  the  absolute  subjection  of  every 
human  feeling  to  the  restraints  of  discipline  can  dissipate 
the  real  or  imagined  terrors  of  such  a  •  conflict  "  and  Lee- 
has  said  that  "to  expose  militia  to  such  a  charge,  without 
discipline  or  arms  to  repel  it,  is  murder."  Therefore,  Gen- 
eral Greene  instructed  them,  so  the}'  could  understand  it, 
to  fire  until  the  bayonet  did  reach  them,  which  he  calcu- 
lated would  be  two  rounds,  and  then  to  retire.  To  re- 
quire more  of  them,  as  Lee  says,  in  discussing  this  mode 
of  warfare,  "  would  be  murder."  It  would  be  to  expect 
more  of  them  than  of  the  conquerors  of  Ferguson  at 
King's  mountain. 

The  sequel  will  show  that  the  North  Carolinians  diso- 
beyed no  order  in  retreating  before  the  bayonet,  and  that 
they  performed  the  whole  duty  required  of  them  that  day, 
and  if  the  day  had  gone  as  did  Cowpens,  the  order  of 
Greene  to  the  militia  would,  most  probably,  not  have 
been  suppressed. 

General  Greene,  having  now  retired  to  the  Continental 
line,  exhorted  the  second  Maryland,  which  was  a  fresh 
regiment,  though  regulars,  to  firmness  and  courage.  He 
was  no  more  on  the  front  line  and  as  to  its  conduct  he 
could  only  afterwards  speak  from  hearsay. 

It  was  not  long  until  the  fire  from  Singleton's  guns  upon 
the  British  column,  as  it  came  in  view,  across  Horse-pen 


48 

Crock,  about  half  mile   west  of  the  line,    announced    the 
presence  of  the  British   Army. 

It  made  a  rapid  descent  to  the  valley  of  the  creek 
under  cover  of  its  artillery,  which  replied  to  Singleton's, 
and  there  "  displayed  "  their  line,  to  use  the  technical 
word  of  that  period.  Webster  on  the  left  and  North 
and  Leslie  on  the  right  and  South  ^f  the  road. 
Webster  fronting  Eaton's  brigade  an  1  Leslie  fronting 
Butler's,  The  artillery  in  the  road — the  cavalry  in  the 
die  rear. 

The  second  battali  »n  of  British  Guards  under  General 
(  >'Hara  being  in  reserve  to  Webster  and  the  first  battal- 
lion  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Norton  in  reserve  to  Leslie. 

The  battle  began  first  on  the  North  of  the  road,  where 
Baton's  brigade  was  posted,  the  ground  in  their  front,  as 
you  will  perceive,  is  comparatively  level  and  as  the  Brit- 
ish line  came  in  fair,  unobstructed  view,  first  in  that  part 
of  the  field  theyreceived  the  first  fire  at  perhaps  ioo  yards 
distance,  the  militia  being  impatient  to  fire  and  to  have 
time  to  reload  their  rifles  before  the  English  could  push 
upon  them  with   the  bayonet. 

Colonel  Tarleton,  who  was  in  the  road,  in  the  rear  of 
Webster's  brigade,  and  in  full  view  of  its  advance  against 
Eaton's  brigade,  thus  describes  the  scene  transpiring  be- 
fore his  eyes: 

"The  order  and  coolness  of  that  part  of  Webster's  brigade  which 
advanced  across  the  open  ground  exposed  to  t/ie  enemy's  tire  cannot 
be  sufficiently  extolled.  The  extremities  were  not  less  gallant,  but 
were  more  protected  by  the  woods  in  which  they  moved.  The 
militia  allowed  the  front  Jine  to  approach  within  150  yards  before 
they  gave  their  fire." 

Stedman,  the  English  historian,  who  was  the  Commis- 
sary General  of  Cornwallis  and  was  also  a  spectator  of  the 
scene,  repeats  this  account  of  Webster's  advance  and 
vouches  for  Tarleton's  general  description   of  the  battle. 


49 

Colonel  Leo,  who  know  Stedman's  character  well  and  the 
incidents  of  the  whole  campaign,  in  correcting  an  uninten- 
tional error  into  which  Stedman  had  fallen  about  the  de- 
feat of  Pyles,  says:   "  I  have  acknowledged  my  conviction 

of  Stedman's  impartiality  and  respect  for  truth./  There- 
fore this  account  of  Tarleton's  comes  endorsed  by  Sted- 
man, and  Stedman's  character  is  endorsed  by  Lee. 

This  is  a  prominent  and  important  fact,  because  if  "the 
order  and  coolness  of"  Webster's  brigade  under  the  fire  of 
the  North  Carolina  militia  cannot  be  "sufficiently  extolled," 
the  fire  must  have  been  very  deadly  and  continuous. 

Tarleton  and  Stedman  would  not  acknowledge  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  English  language  to  describe  this  charge 
unless  it  was  made  in  the  face  of  a  galling  and  destruc- 
tive fire.  The  tribute  to  the  "coolness  and  courage"  of 
Webster's  brigade  involves  the  highest  tribute  to  the 
firmness  of  the  North  Carolina  brigade. 

Another  English  historian,  Lamb,  who  was  at  that  time 
an  officer  of  the  Thirty-third  regiment  and  participated 
in  this  charge,  has  also  quoted  Tarleton's  language  with 
approbation,  and  in  order  to  give  further  and  greater  em- 
phasis to  the  coolness  and  courage  of  Webster's  brigade, 
he  says: 

"  As  the  author  belonged  to  Colonel  Webster's  brigade,  he  is  en- 
abled (and  the  reader  will  naturally  expect  it  of  him)  to  state  some 
circumstances  unnoticed  by  any  historian,  from  his  own  personal  ob- 
servation. After  the  brigade  formed  across  the  open  ground,  Col. 
Webster  rode  on  to  the  front  and  gave  the  word,  'Charge. '  Instantly 
the  movement  was  made  in  excellent  order  at  a  sharp  run,  with  arms 
charged  ;  when  arrived  within  forty  yards  of  the  enemy's  line  it  was 
perceived  that  their  whole  force  had  their  arms  presented  and  resting 
on  a  rail  fence,  the  common  partition  in  America.  They  were  taking 
aim  with  the  nicest  precision, 

"Twixt  host  and  host  but  narrow  space  was  left 

A  dreadful  interval,  and  front  to  front, 

Presented,  stood  in  terrible  array." 


5° 

"  At  this  awful  period  a  general  pause  took  place:  both  parties 
surveyed  each  other  a  moment  with  most  anxious  suspense.  Colonel 
Webster  then  rode  forward  in  front  of  the  Twenty-third  regiment 
and  said,  with  more  than  his  usual  commanding  voice,  which  was 
well  known  to  his  brigade,  "Come  on,  my  brave  Fusiliers!"  This 
operated  like  an  inspiring  voice.  They  rushed  forward  amidst  the 
enemy's  fire — dreadful  was  the  havoc  on  both  sides." 

"  Amazing  scene  ! 
What  showers  of  mortal  hail,  what  flaky  fires  !" 

"  At  last  the  Americans  gave  way  and  the^brigade  advanced  to  the 
attack  ot  the  second  line."* 

Lamb  wrote  his  work  in  1809,  after  seeing  other  ac- 
counts of  this  battle  and  felt  constrained  to  give  his  per- 
sonal recollections  of  this  particular  part  <>i  the  engage- 
ment, because  he  was  an  active  participant  in  it  anil  no 
other  historian  had  described,  the  action  in  detail  in  that 
part  of  the  field.  This  author  is  one  of  the  highest  re- 
spectability and  is  frequently  quoted  by  American  his- 
torians. In  Carrington's  "Battles  ot  the  American  Revo- 
lution," a  standard  work  of  recent  date,  copious  quota- 
tions are  made  from  Lamb.  He  is  also  quoted  by  George 
Washington  Greene  in  his  biography  of  the  General. 
Lamb's  work  was  published  by  subscription  and  among 
the  list  of  subscribers  are  most  of  the  noblemen  and  lit- 
eratti  of  his  day.  Lamb  was  a  teacher  in  a  High  school 
in  Scotland  and  a  man  of  letters  as  well  as  a  soldier. 

Can  any-  one  doubt  the  truth  of  such  a  statement  com- 
ing from  a  participant  in  the  scene,  who  gives  such  em- 
phasis and  particularity  to  details,  and  who  is  of  unim- 
peachable character  for  truth  and  intelligence. 

I  can  safely  rest  the  reputation  of  that  part  of  the  North 
Carolina  militia,  under  General  Laton,  on  these  splendid 
tributes  to  their  courage  and  firmness. 

It  establishes  the  fact  that  they-  had  fired  once  and  re- 
*Lanab's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  p.  S61. 


?1 

loaded  and  when  the  enemy  were  in  forty  paces  were 
resting  their  rifles  on  the  rails  and  aiming  with  the  "nicest 
precision  "  at  their  foe.  So  appalling  was  their  martial 
array  that  even  the  British  veterans,  who  had  faced  so 
many  dangers  from  Quebec  to  Camden,  paused  and 
stood  aghast  at  the  spectacle,  and  that  only  the  magic 
voice  of  their  commander,  accompanied  with  Ids  reckless 
exposure  in  their  front,  could  prevail  upon  them  to  ad- 
vance. 

The  "havoc"  was  great,  says  Lamb,  and  we  may  well 
believe  it.  Riflemen  who  could  take  a  squirrel's  head 
from  the  highest  tree  would  not  be  likely  to  miss  a  scar- 
let uniform  at  fort}-  paces. 

In  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  Second  Series,  p.  149, 
is  a  biography  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Houston,  a  Presbyte- 
rian minister,  whose  simple  epitaph  tells  the  story  of  his 
useful  and  honorable  and  pious  life. 

SACRED 

TO  THE   MEMORY  f 

OF  THE 

Rev.  SAMUEL  HOUSTON, 

WHO    IN    EARLY  LIFE  WAS  A  SOLDIER  OF  THE 
REVOLUTION, 

AND  FOR  55  YEARS  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER  OF  THE 

LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 

HE    DIED    ON  THE  20TH  DAY  OF  JANUARY,   1839, 
AOED    8l    YEARS. 

Mr.  Houston  was  a  student  at  Lexington  Academy  but 
responded  toa  call  for  volunteers,  and  was  one  of  General 
Stevens'  command  at  this  battle  and  kept  a  diary  of  his 
movements  from  February  26th  to  March  23rd,  in  which 


52 

rae  related  man)-  interesting  incidents.  He  was  fond  of 
telling  the  story  of  this  battle,  and  thus  describes  its 
opening: 

"The  Virginia  line  was  in  the  forest,  the  Carolina  militia  pirtlyin 
the  forest  and  partly  in  the  skirt  of  the  forest  and  partly  behind  the 
fence  inclosing  the  open  space,  across  which  the  British  force  was 
advancing  with  extended  front. 

"According  to  ordt  rs  the  Carolina  line,  when  the  enemy  were  very 
near,  gave  their  fire,  which  on  the  left  of  the  British  line  zoas  deadly, 
and  having  repeated  it,  retreated.  Some  remained  t->  give  a  third 
fire  and  some  made  such  haste  in  retreat  as  to  bring  reproach  upon 
themselves  as  deficient  in  bravery,  while  their  neighbors  behaved 
like  heroes. " 

Here  is  a  direct  confirmation  of  Lamb's  account  of  the 
"deadly  fire''  of  Webster's  brigade,  ami  a  positive  asser- 
tion that  the  fire  was  "  repeated,"  and  that  some  remained 
to  fire  the  third  time,  and  that  the}-  acte  1  "according  to 
orders." 

That  there  was  haste  in  the  retreat  when  it  began,  is 
conceded,  but  no  military  man  or  intelligent  reader  oi 
the  history  of  militia  contests,  would  have  expected  it  to 
be  otherwise.  Idle  Virginians  and  North  Carolinians, 
being  undisciplined  troops,  were  alike  disorderly  when 
retreating  from  the-  field.  Idle  North  Carolinians  had 
done  all  the}'  were  commanded  or  instructed  to  do,  and 
hastened  to  the  rear  where  the}'  were  ordered  to  rally 
again.  Air.  Houston  was  frank'  and  just  as  well  as  truth- 
ful, for  in  describing  the  advance  of  the  British  on 
Stevens'  brigade,  after  the  North  Carolinians  retreated, 
he  relates  as  the  first  fact  occurring  that  "Our  brigade- 
Major,  Mr.  Williams,  fled." 

ddie  Rev.  J.  Henry  Smith,  D.  D.,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the 
South,  and  for  twenty-five  years  pastor  at  Greensboro,  has 
seen    Mr.  Houston  in  his  old  age  and  knew  his   character 


53 

well,  and  testifies  to  the  great  esteem  and  reverence  in 
which  he  was  held  byall  whoknewhim.  He  wasoneof  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Virginia  in 
his  day. 

These  men  of  North  Carolina  did  their  duty  and  after 
firing  every  shot  possible,  before  the  bayonet  was  upon 
them,  obeyed  orders,  and  retreated  behind  the  second  line, 
who  were  in  readiness  to  give  the  enemy  a  similar  recep- 
tion. 

On  Butler's  side  of  the  road  the  North  Carolina  militia 
and  Forbis'  Volunteers  gave  the  British  a  bloody  repulse. 
The  Scotch  Highlanders,  a  regiment  of  Leslie's  brigade, 
rested  its  left  on  the  New  Garden  road  and  therefore  was 
immediately  in  front  of  Butler's  militia,  chiefly  from 
Orange,  Granville  and  Guilford. 

Captain  Dugald  Stuart  who  commanded  a  company  in 
the  71st  regiment  (called  "Scotch  Highlanders")  on  that 
day,  when  writing  to  a  relative  in  this  country  under 
date  of  October  25th,  1825,  uses  the  following  language: 

"  In  the  advance  we  received  a  very  deadly  fire  from  the  Irish  line 
of  the  American  army,  composed  of  their  marksmen,  lying  on  the 
ground  behind  a  rail  fence. 

"  One  half  the  Highlanders  dropped  on  that  spot.  There  ought  to 
be  a  very  large  tumulus  on  that  spot  where  our  men  were  buried."* 

This  letter  was  written  by  Captain  Stuart  to  a  relative 
in  Guilford  county  who  had  suggested  that  most  of  the 
Highlanders  had  been  killed  in  the  charge  on  the  Con- 
tinental line  and  these  particulars  were  given  to  correct 
that  error. 

The  centre  of  the  State  had  among  its  population,  at 
that  period,  many  Irish  and  Scotch-Irish,  and  for  that 
reason  the  militia  line  was  called  the  Irish  line. 

The  tumulus  to  which  Captain  Stuart  refers  is  no  doubt 

*Caruthers'  Sketches,  Second  Series,  p.  134. 


;4 

the  large  grave,  sixteen  feet  square,  and  six  feet  deep, 
near  the  Hoskins'  residence,  which  was  filled  with  the 
dead  of  the  English  army,  thus  confirming  Capt.  Stuart's 
memory  in  regard  to  it. 

A  further  confirmation  oi  this  positive  statement  of 
Captain  Stuart  is  an  extract  from  "Brown's  History  of 
the  Highland  Clans"  as  quoted  by  Caruthers.  Vol.  2,  p.  134: 

"The  Americans  covered  by  a  fence  in  their  front  reserved  their 
fire  till  the  British  were  in  thirty  or  forty  paces,  at  which  distance 
they  openeda  destructive  tire,  which  annihilated  nearly  one-third  of 
Webster's  brigade." 

I  he  Highlanders,  however,  were  under  Leslie,  instead 
of  Webster,  that  day  but  joined   Webster's  left. 

The  Hessians  were  opposed  by  the  left  of  Butler's  men 
and  the  Volunteers  under  Forbis.  These  latter,  Lee  re- 
luctantly confesses,  were  firm  and  never  gave  way  except 
to  sullenly  and  slowly  retreat  before  the  English  bayonet 
and  adhered  to  Campbell's  command  to  the  very  last. 

It  was  a  North  Carolina  rifle  that  brought  down  the 
first  English  officer  in  this  battle. 

Colonel  James  Martin  in  his  petition  for  a  pension  thus 
describes  the  scene: 


"  I  was  posted  on  the  front  line  with  a  company  commanded  by 
Captain  Forbis,  a  brave,  undaunted  fellow.  We  were  posted  behind 
a  fence  and  I  told  the  men  to  sit  down  until  the  British  who  were  ad- 
vancing, came  near  enough  to  shoot.  When  they  came  within  about 
100  yards,  a  British  officer  with  a  drawn  sword  was  driving  up  his 
men.  I  asked  Captain  Forbis  if  he  could  take  him  down.  He  said 
he  could  for  he  had  a  good  rifle.  I  told  him  to  let  him  come  in  fifty 
yards  and  then  take  him  down,  which  he  did.  It  was  a  Captain  of 
the  British   army." 

It  was  stated  by  Peter  Rife  of  Virginia,  one  of  Lee's 
Leg-ion,  to  Caruthers,  that  he  witnessed  the  fact  with  his 


own  eyes,  that  the  men  of  Alamance  fired  till  the  Hes- 
sians mounted  the  fence  and  then  clubbed  their  rifles  and 
fought  them  back,  hand  to  hand.  When  asked  if  this 
was  not  done  by  Campbell's  men,  he  replied  indignantly, 
"No,  it  was  the  North  Carolinians.  I  sat  on  my  horse 
and   saw  them  with  my  own  eyes." 

There  was  deadly  work  there.  At  the  foot  of  yonder 
ancient  poplar,  in  full  view  of  us,  now  sacred  from  the 
woodman's  axe,  fell  that  "brave,  undaunted  fellow" 
pierced  by  one  bullet  in  his  neck  and  another  through 
his  thigh,  and  by  his  side  lay  Thomas  Wiley  and  Wil- 
liam Paisley,  whose   descendants  still  live  among  us. 

The  granite  monument  at  the  foot  of  the  poplar  is  the 
second  raised  to  the  memory  of  Capt.  Forbis  by  his  grateful 
countrymen.  This  noble  patriot,  after  his  fall,  was  pierced 
with  a  bayonet  by  a  cowardly  tory  and  lay  upon  the 
ground  all  night  through  the  dreadful  storm  that  ensued. 
He  was  found  next  day  by  Miss  Montgomery  and  carried 
to  his  home  on  a  horse.  Refusing  to  submit  to  the  am- 
putation of  his  leg,  mortification  took  place  and  he  died 
several  weeks  after  the  battle." 

It  is  perhaps  a  gratification  to  know  that  "Shoemaker," 
the  Tory  who  thrust  the  bayonet  through  Forbis'  body, 
was  caught  not  long  thereafter  and  was  soon  dangling  at 
the  end  of  a  rope  and  died  the  death  of  a  felon. 

With  this  record  history  of  officers  and  privates  on  both 
sides,  who  participated  in  the  battle,  and  the  testimony 
of  historians,  who  were  observers  of  and  actors  in  the 
scenes,  I  confidently  submit  that  the  North  Carolina 
militia  obeyed  their  orders  to  give  two  deliberate  fires  and 
retreat,  and  the  omission  to  state  this  order,  as  both 
Johnson  and  Col.  Lee  have  so  unjustly  done  in  their 
histories,  has  been  the  cause  of  the  greatest  wrong 
to  North  Carolina;  but  any  North   Carolinian  who  care- 

*Comniunieated  to  me  by  the  family 


fully  reads  Johnson's  numerous  exposures  of  Lee's 
"surprising  general  inaccuracies"  and  observes  the  per- 
version of  facts  and  the  misrepresentations  of  history  by 
Johnson,  himself,  in  regard  to  North  Carolina,  will  not  be 
surprised  at  the  unpardonable  and  unjust  omission  to 
state  this  order  of  General  Greene.  The  omission,  to  an 
intelligent  mind,  seems,  in  the  face  of  the  testimony  to  be 
studied  and  intentional.  lucre  can  be  no  reasonable 
excuse  f<  ir  it. 

Lee  has  not  hesitate.1  to  indulge  in  vituperation  in  re- 
gard to  the  North  Carolina  militia,  characterizing  their 
retreat  as  "desertion  ;"  but  when  the  Virginia  militia  fled 
from  the  field  and  left  Greene's  camp  he  speaks  of 
Greene's  army  as  being  "reduced  by  the  fliglit  of  the 
North  Carolinians,  and  the  voluntary  and  customary  re- 
turn of  the  Virginia  militia  to  their  homes.  Such  effron- 
tery is  refreshing  and  provokes  a  smile. 

North  Carolinians,  according  to  this,  fled  once  audit 
was  "desertion,"  but  when  the  Virginians  repeate  1  it  so 
often  as  to  become  "customary"  it  was  no  longer  dis- 
honorable. 

Idle  fact  is  that  a  larger  proportion  of  North  Carolinians 
rallied  after  the  battle,"''"  than  \  irginians.  I  quote  from 
Rev.  Mr.  Houston's  Journal  of  the  i~th  of  March  to  show- 
how  this  "customary  return  to  their  homes"  was  made. 

"Saturday,  the  ijt/i.  On  account  of  the  want  of  some  of  our 
blankets  and  some  other  clothing,  many  postponed  returning-home, 
which  was  talked  of,  in  general,  in  McDowell's  batallion,  till  at  last 
they  agreed  and  many  went  oft":  a  few  were  remaining  when  Gen. 
Lawson  came  and  raged  very  much :  about  10  o'clock  a//but  McDow- 
ell came  off." 

They  left  in  the  face  of  a  "raging"  officer's  protest, 
ddus  savors  of  "desertion"  whether  "customary"  or  not. 
*  Johnson,  Vol.  l,  p.  462. 


57 

I  do  not  make  an  attack  on  the  Virginians,  many  of 
whom  did  their  duty  nobly  on  this  field;  but  when  we  are 
traduced  by  invidious  comparisons,  it  is  due  to  history 
that  the  facts  should  be  stated.  Colonel  Lee,  himself, 
has  been  severely  censured  by  Johnson  for  his  conduct 
in  this  battle;-  but  I  refrain  from  commenting  upon 
charges  which  may  be  unjust  to  a  man,  who  was  one 
of  the  best  partisan  officers  in  Greene's  command.  I  only 
strike  in  defence. 

Having  digressed  from  the  narrative  in  order  to  vindic- 
ate the  truth  of  history  and  repel  the  aspersions  on  the 
North  Carolina  militia,  I  resume  the  story  of  the  battle. 

When  the  militia  gave  way  before  the  bayonet  on  the 
right,  Webster  pushed  his  advance  in  the  forest  but  was 
met  by  a  shower  of  bullets  on  his  left  flank,  from  Kirk- 
wood's  Delawares  and  Lynch's  Riflemen  and  was  com- 
pelled to  face  the  Thirty-third  to  the  north  and  repel  the 
assault,  while  the  Twenty-third  took  position  on  the  left 
made  vacant  by  this  move,  and  the  Second  Battalion  of 
Guards  under  O'Hara  filled  the  gap  by  filing  in  on  the 
right  of  the  Twenty-third  and  next  to  the  road. 

On  the  south  of  the  road,  Leslie  advanced  rapidly  into 
the  forest  for  protection  from  the  riflemen  of  Campbell, 
Winston,  Armstrong  and  Preston  on  their  right  flank,  and 
passed  many  of  the  riflemen,  who  fired  deadly  volleys 
upon  them  from  flank  and  rear.  So  destructive  was  this 
fire  that  Lieutenant  Colonel  Norton,  of  the  first  battalion 
of  guards,  who  was  in  reserve,  came  speedily  into  line 
and  attacked  the  riflemen,  while  the  Hessians  under 
Dubuys  were  faced  south  and  in  a  right  angle  to  their 
first  line  and  attacked  Lee's  Legion  which  was  on  Camp- 
bell's right.  The  conflict  here  was  stubborn  and  hotly 
contested.  The  riflemen  gave  way  to  the  bayonet,  and 
reloading,  returned  to  the  charge,  and  firing  from  trees 
*  Johnson,  Vol.  2,  p.  14-20. 


5* 

in   every   direction,    soon    routed    the   guards   and    drove 
them  back  to  the  skirt  of  the   woods. 

The  Hessians  made  more  progress  on  Campbell's  right 
and  pressed  the  Volunteers  'back  in  the  direction  of  the 
"Ross  Residence,"  and  the  riflemen  fell  back  with  them. 
It  was  at  this  period  oi  the  battle  that  Cornwallis,  riding 
into  the  midst  ol  the  Guards  and  leading  them  back  to 
the  charge,  had  his  iron-grey  horse  shot  under  him  at 
tlie  spot  now  indica  I  by  a  very  large  persimmon  tree, 
a  few  hundred  yards  in  front  of   us,  which  still  lives." 

It  was  by  this  combined  charge  ol  the  Hessians  and 
the  Guards  that  Campbell's  men  were  driven  south  and 
entirely  separated  from  the  left  flank  of  Stevens'  brigade, 
upon  which  they  >vere  ordered  to  form  in  case  of  retreat. 
Cornwallis,  leaving  the  Hessians  to  contend  with  the 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia  riflemen,  recalled  Norton, 
and  with  his  Guards  and  the  71st  Scotch  Highlanders, 
charged  Stevens'  brigade,  while  Webster  assaulted  Law- 
son  on  the  left.  Lawson  gave  way  early,  as  his  troops 
were  raw  militia,  and  only  lost  one  man  killed.  Wash- 
ington, however,  protected  their  retreat  and  they  swung 
around  on  their  left  into  the  forest  in  the  rear  oi  Stevens 
to  avoid  the  fields  where  Tarletoh  might  fall  upon  them, 
and  thus  made  their  way  to  the  Court  House. 

Webster,  having  driven  Lawson  from  his  front,  and  the 
flanking  detachment  under  Washington  having  retired  to 
the  Continental  line,  the  British  moved  along  the  left  of 
the  road  rapidly,    until    they    reached   the   Bruce  road  in 

'■Note.—  Lamb  relates  the  following  incident  as  having  occurred  just  after  the 
retreat  of  Katun's  brigade,  on  the  north  of  the  New  Garden  road. 

"On  the  instant,  however,  I  saw  Lord  Cornwallis  riding  across  the  clear  ground. 
His  Lordship  was  mounted  on  a  dragoon's  horse,  his  own  having  heen  stint,  the 
saddle-hags  were  under  the  creature's  belly,  which  much  retarded  his  progress, 
owing  to  the  vasi  quantity  oi  underwood  thai  was  spread  over  the  ground;  his 
Lordship  was  evidently  unconscious  of  his  danger.  I  immediately  laid  hold  of 
the  bridle  of  his  horse  and  turned  his  head.  I  then  mentioned  to  him  that  if  his 
Lordship  had  pursued  the  same  direction  he  would,  in  a  tew  moments,  have  been 
surrounded  by  the  enemy,  and  perhaps  cut  to  pieces  or  captured.  I  continued  to 
run  along  the  side  ,,t'  the  horse,  keeping  the  bridle  in  my  hand,  until  his  Lordship 
gained  the  23rd  regiment,  which  was  at  that  time  drawn  up  in  the  skirt  of  the 
woods."— p.  382. 


59 

the  edge  of  the  old  held  about  300  yards  to  the  east  of 
us,  where  he  discovered  the  Continental  line  across  the 
ravine  on  the  opposite  hill.  Flushed  with  victory  and 
eager  to  lead  the  advance  and  complete  the  destruction 
of  Greene's  arm}-,  Colonel  Webster  formed  the  Thirty- 
Third  into  line,  the  second  battalion  of  Guards  not  being 
up,  and  with  this  regiment  charged  the  Continentals. 

I'he  first  Maryland,  under  Colonel  Gunby,  received  the 
charge  with  cool  and  determined  courage,  firing  a  deadly 
volley  in  the  British  line  at  fort}-  paces,  which  mortally 
wounded  Colonel  Webster  and  threw  them  into  con- 
fusion, then  following  their  fire  with  the  bayonet,  as  they 
did  at  Cowpens,  the}-  fell  upon  the  enemy  and  com- 
pletely routed  them,  pursuing  them  back  into  the   forest. 

General  Greene,  not  knowing  the  fate  of  Campbell, 
who  had  been  driven  nearly  a  mile  to  the  South,  though 
still  fighting,  hesitated  to  advance  his  whole  line,  fearing 
that  he  might  be  cut  off  on  his  left  flank,  and  therefore 
ordered  the  first  Maryland  to  fall  back  to  their  original 
position. 

Here,   Tarleton  says,   Greene  lost  the  battle,   by    not 

following  up  this    advantage    and    severing    the    British 

army  in  twain,  but  the  distrust  that  Greene  had  of  raw 

« 
troops,     induced  him  to    choose    the    wiser     and     safer 

plan  by  which  he  could  save  his  arm}-  if  he  was  com- 
pelled to  retreat. 

While  Gunby  was  retiring  from  the  pursuit  of  Webster, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Stewart,  with  the  Guards  (General 
O'Hara  having  been  wounded)  had  arrived  at  the  old 
field,  and  without  waiting  for  orders,  charged  the  second 
Maryland,  under  Colonel  Ford,  whose  left  rested  on 
the  rivulet  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The  second  Maryland 
made  but  a  feeble  resistance  and  fled,  but  at  this  critical 
moment,  the  first  Maryland  struck  the  Guards  on  their 
left  flank  with  the  bayonet,   and  while   they    turned    to 


6o 

resist  this  unexpected  attack,  Washington,  who  was  on 
the  hill,  in  the  new  Salisbury  road,  descended  the  slope, 
crossing  the  rivulet  and  charged  the  guards  in  the  rear. 
The  slaughter  was  terrific* 

Peter  Francisco  the  giant,  of  Captain  Watkin's  Vir- 
ginia cavalry,  killed  eleven  British  soldiers  with  his 
terrible  sabre.  It  was  a  valley  of  death  and  the  Guards 
refusing  to  surrender  were  being  cut  down  on  every 
hand.  Never  soldiers  fought  with  more  desperation  and 
courage  than  these  devoted  and  gallant  men.  (  hie  can- 
not read  the  story  without  admiration  for  their  courage 
and  devotion  to  the  Crown. 

There  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  Stewart  came  in  con- 
tact with  Captain  John  Smith, of  the  firstMaryland  and  they 
recognized  each  other  as  having  crossed  swords  at  Cow- 
liens.  The  duel  was  renewed.  Stewart  thrust  at  him 
with  his  sword,  Smith  parried  it  with  his  left  arm  and 
with  his  right  swung  aloft  hi--  heavy  sabre  which  in  its 
descent  cleft  the  skull  of  Stewart  to  the  neck.t 

Conwallis,  descending  the  hill,  saw  that  a  desperate 
remedy  was  necessary,  and  riding  up  to  the  artillery, 
which  had  now  arrived  at  the  Bruce  Road,  he  command- 
ed MacLeod  to  open  on  the  melee  with  grape  shot.      Near 

*Note.— The  third  escape  from  danger  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  took  place,  at  the 
foot  di' the  steep  hill  jusl  beyond  the  fork  of  the  Bruce  road,  near  the  ancient 
white  oak  which  still  marks  the  spol . 

Cornwallis  came  down  from  his  post  where  the  Salisbury  (New  Garden)  road 
enters  to  the  hollow  to  see  the  condition  of  the  battle,  ami  under  the  cover  of  the 
smoke,  rode  up  to  that  old  oak,  just  in  the  skirts  of  the  fiery  contest.  Washington 
who  had  drawn  off  his  troops,  was  hovering  round  to  watch  his  opportunity  for 
another  onset  and  approached  that  same  oak  unperceived  by  his  Lordship  ;  Stop- 
ping to  beckon  on  his  men  to  move  and  intercept  the  officer,  then  unknown  to 
him,  he  happened  to  strike  his  unlaced  helmet  from  his  head.  While  he  dis- 
mounted to  recover  it,  a  round  of  grape  from  the  British  artillery  so  grievously 
wounded  the  officer  next  in  command  to  Washington,  that  incapacitating  him  to 
manage  his  horse,  the  animal  wheeled  around  and  carried  him  off  the  field,  fol- 
lowed by  the  rest  of  the  cavalry  who,  unhappily,  supposed  that  the  movement 
had  been  directed.    Thus  Cornwallis  escaped. 

*Se  ■  \;ip sn  Ux  B. 


6i 

the  guns  lay  General  O'Hara,  the  Brigade  Commander 
of  the  Guards,  bleeding  with  many  wounds.  He  turned 
his  pale  face  to  the  British  Commander  and  begged  that 
his  brave  soldiers  should  not  be  killed  by  their  own  guns; 
but  Cornwallis  was  in  desperate  and  dreadful  earnest, 
and  repeated  the  sanguinary  order,  while  O'Hara  hid  his 
face  in  his  hands  and  wept.  The  remedy  was  awful  but 
effectual.  The  Americans  were  compelled  to  retreat  and 
the  few  bleeding  Guards  that  were  left  made  their  way 
out  from  the  scene  of  carnage.* 

Greene  reformed  his  line,  placing  the  first  two  pieces 
of  artillery  in  the  New  Garden  road,  with  the  First  Mary- 
land on  its  right,  then  the  other  two  six-pounders  and  in 
regular  order  Kirkwood's  Delawares  and  Hawes  and 
Green's  Virginia  regiments — the  last  forming  the  ex- 
treme right  of  the  line. 

Washington's  Cavalry  was  in  the  concave  side  of  this 
semi-circular  line,  in  the  rear,  so  as  to  act  as  emergency 
might  require.  He  was  the  ubiquitous  and  intrepid  sol- 
dier, rough,  but  awful  in  combat,  whose  sabre  had  left  its 
mark  on  Tarleton  at  Cowpens,  and  he  was  now  panting 
to  renew  the  conflict. 

"  Col.  Washington  is  described  as  being  six  feet  in  height,  broad, 
stout  and  corpulent.  Bold  in  the  field,  careless  in  the  camp  ;  kind 
to  his  soldiers ;  harassing  to  his  enemies;  gay  and  good  humored, 
with  an  upright  and  a  gensrous  hand,  a  universal  favorite." — Irving's 
Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  4,  p.  44. 

Cornwallis,  under  fire  of  his  artillery  and  a  musketry 
fusilade,    formed   his    line   anew.     The  Thirty-third  had 

♦Note— Johnson  also  relates  the  narrow  escape  made  by  General  Greene  during 
the  fight  with  the  Continental  line,  as  follows: 

"  Such  also  had  been  the  apprehensions  for  the  consequencies  of  the  defeat  of 
the  Second  Battalion  of  the  Guards,  that  the  First  Battalion  had  been  ordered  up 
from  the  left  and  had  reached  the  Xew  Garden  road  on  which  Greene  was  anxi- 
ously observing  the  progress  of  events.  The  bush  on  the  roadside  had  so  effect- 
ually concealed  the  advance  of  this  corps  from  view  that  Gen.  Greene  had  ap- 
proached within  a  few  paces  of  them,  when  they  were  discovered  by  his  aid, 
Major  Morris,  and  pointed  out  to  him.  He  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  retire  in  a 
walk  ;  a  precipitate  movement  would,  probably,  have  drawn  upon  him  a  volley  of 
musketry." 


62 

been  rallied,  the  Twenth -third  was  in  line  with  the 
Seventy-first  and  Xorton  on  its  right  and  the  few  surviv- 
ors of  the  First  Battalion  of  Guards,  refusing  to  be  held 
back,  came  also  to  the  front.  With  the  loss  of  the  First 
Maryland,  and  knowing  nothing  oi  the  Tate  of  Lee 
and  Campbell.  General  Greene  determined  not  to  risk 
his  whole  Continental  line  in  a  last  desperate  struggle 
but  rather  to  retreat  ami  hold  them  strong  and  fresh  as  a 
nucleus,  around  which  lie  could  gather  his  scattered 
militia  ami  organize  for  another  battle  it  the  enemy  dared 
t<  >  advance. 

Throwing  Green's  regiment  of  Virginians,  who  had 
not  yet  been  brought  into  action,  in  the  rear,  to  cover  his 
retreat,  he  withdrew  across  Hunting  Creek  and  took  tin/ 
road  to  Mc<  >uistian's  bridge  on  Reedy  Fork.  Cornwallis 
made  a  demonstration  of  pursuit,  but  a  few  shot<  from 
Green's  regiment  am!  a  charge  from  the  cavalry  under 
Washington,  caused  Tarleton  to  halt  and  return  to  camp. 

ddie  artillery  was  necessarily  left  in  the  enemy's  pos- 
session as  the  horse-  had  all  been  killed  and  there  was 
no  way  to  carry  off  the  guns. 

Idle  fight  with  Campbell's  men  had  been  steadily  kept 
up  and  the  Hesians  had  been  driven  back  in  confusion, 
when  Tarleton  was  sent  to  their  aid. 

For  some  reason,  hitherto  unexplained,  Lee  withdrew 
his  Legion  and  left  Campbell  and  the  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia  riflemen  exposed  to  Tarleton's  cavalry  and  the)" 
were  soon  ridden  down  and  compelled  to  disperse.  '  Col- 
onel Compbell  was  greatly  incensed  at  Lee's  abandon- 
ment of  the  riflemen,  and  shortly  after  the  battle  retired 
in  disgust  from  the  army.""" 

Johnson  says  that  Lee  came  to  the  Court  House  and 
was  a  spectator  of  the  struggle  in  the  old  field  between 
the  British  Regulars  and  the  Continentals  but  never 
"Drapers's  Kings  Mountain  and  its  Heroes,  p.  394. 


offered  assistance  or  made  his  presence  known.  He 
retreated  by  the  High  Rock  road  and  his  fate  was  un- 
known for  twenty-four  hours,  until  he  rode  into  the 
American  camp  next  day.t 

To  Washington's  cavalry,  the  North  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia riflemen  on  the  left,  and  the  first  Maryland  regiment, 
with  Kirkwood's  Delaware's,  are  due  the  highest  honors 
of  this  day  so  fruitful  in  all  that  constitutes  victory  to  the 
American  Arms. 

Greene  halted  three  miles  from  the  battle  field  for  rest 
and  to  allow  his  stragglers  to  gather  in.  He  was  so 
prostrated  with  the  long  and  arduous  labors  through 
which  he  had  been  passing  for  weeks  that  in  this  hour  of 
relaxation  he  fainted  from  sheer  exhaustion  and  for 
awhile  was  unconscious.  He  wrote  his  wife  after  the 
battle  that  he  had  not  taken  off  his  clothes  for  six  weeks. 

Cornwallis,  who  had  but  little  means  of  transportation, 
and  a  very  scant  supply  of  provisions  and  medicines, 
found  his  ammunition  nearly  exhausted  and  more  than 
one-third  of  his  force,  over  600,  killed  or  wounded. 
Stewart  was  cold  in  death,  O'Hara  and  Howard  wounded 
and  sick,  Webster,  the  pride  of  the  army,  valiant  in 
battle  and  wise  in  council,  had  received  a  mortal  wound, 
and  the  mournful  spectacle  of  the  dead  and  dying  on 
every  hand  was  enough  to  dishearten  the  British  Com- 
mander. He  gathered  his  wounded  as  best  he  could, 
and  buried  his  dead,  and  realizing  that  his  only  safety 
now  was  in  flight,  he  left  the  field  on  the  17th  and, 
placing  those  of  his  wounded  whom  he  could  not  trans- 
port, in  care  of  the  humane  Quakers  at  New  Garden 
Meeting  House,  he  hastened  to  put  the  Deep  River 
between  him  and  his  adversary  and  gave  no  rest  to  his 
feet  until  he  reached  the  forks  of  that  river,  at  Ramsey's 

t  Jolmson,  Vol.  2,  p  20. 


64 

Mill.  Here  he  could  burn  a  bridge  behind  him  on  either 
stream  as  necessity  required.  From  thence  he  fled  to 
Wilmington,  leaving  the  corpse  of  Webster  in  North 
Carolina,  near  Elizabethtown.  He  had  died  in  passing 
through  the  town  while  swung  in  a  litter  between  two 
horses.      He  literally  died  in  the  flight. 

The  next  morning  after  the  battle,  as  was  the  English 
custom,  Cornwallis  sent  his  officers  to  the  \~u\v  prisoners 
he  had  captured  with  offers  of  liberty  and  money  if  they 
would  join  his  service.  The)'  had  been  confined  all  that 
dreary,  rain)',  cold  night  in  a  rail  pen,  herded  like  cattle, 
and  listened  to  these  appeals  with  silence  and  sullenness. 
The}'  were  then  told  that  the  American  army  had  been 
routed  and  Greene  had  lied  from  the  State,  but  still  these 
staunch  old  Whigs,  drenched  with  rain  and  shivering 
with  cold,  maintained  their  stolid   indifference. 

lust  then  the  sound  of  the  morning  guns  from  Greene's 
camp  came  reverberating  from  the  hills. 

An  old  Tar  Heel  wdio  had  squatted  in  a  corner  of  the 
rail  pen  heard  the  familiar  signal,  and  rising  with  a  smile, 
he  cried  out:  "LISTEN  BOYS!  THE  OLD  COCK  IS  CROW- 
ING AGAIN,"  and  a  shout  of  defiance  went  up  from  the 
rail  pen  that  convinced  the  English  officer  that  patriotism 
in  the  old  North  State  was  above  the  temptation  of 
bribery  or  the  intimidation  of  British  power. 

ddiat  "old  cock"  Xathanael  Greene,  and  the  "blue 
hen's  chickens"  around  him  continued  to  crow  until  Corn- 
wallis was  admonished  of  his  sins  and  his  danger  and 
prepared  for  flight. 

Eager  to  meet  the  American  army  which  he  had  been 
pursuing  for  two  months  through  mud  and  rain;  thirsting 
for  the  glory  of  annihilating  his  foe,  Cornwallis  had 
marched  out  from  his  camp  with  fluttering  banners  and 
martial  music  to  accept  the  challenge  of  the  American 
General;   he  looked  with  pride  on  the  veteran  soldiers  of 


65 

his  line  and  the  splendid  officers  who  led  them:  the  half 
clad  soldiers  of  the  American  army  and  the  untutored 
militia  of  the  State  were  contemptible  in  his  eyes;  the 
scene  at  Camden  was  to  be  repeated,  the  militia  would 
flee  at  his  approach,  the  Continentals  would  be  outnum- 
bered and  crushed  and  Tarleton  would  revenge  the  de- 
feat of  Cowpens  by  putting  the  retreating  masses  to  the 
sword.  Greene  would  forsake  the  field  and  find  a  refuge 
in  the  mountains  of  Virginia  and  the  Royal  Government 
would  be  restored  in  North  Carolina. 

These  were  the  exultant  visions  that  floated  before  his 
lordship's  eyes  as  he  gave  the  command  "forward  for 
Guilford  Court  House." 

He  sought  the  American  army  and  advanced  upon  the 
militia  but  he  found  them  in  "  fort}-  paces  with  their  rifles 
resting  on  the  rails  and  aiming  with  the  "nicest  precision  " 
at  his  line,  and  the  next  moment  there  was  "havoc"  in 
Webster's  brigade.  He  looked  to  the  right  and  witness- 
ed haJfthe  Highlanders  drop;  he  galloped  his  charger  into 
the  midst  of  the  fight  but  in  a  moment  was  unhorsed  by 
the  riflemen  on  the  flank;  in  fury  he  rode  to  the  valley 
where  his  guards  were  weltering  in  blood  and  returned 
to  shoot  them  down  in  promiscuous  carnage  with  his  own 
guns,  he  called  for  Webster  to  lead  the  last  charge  for 
victory  but  found  him  in  the  hands  of  the  surgeon;  he 
looked  for  O'Hara  and  saw  him  bleeding  at  his  side;  to 
the  inquiry  for  Gen.  Howard  came  the  response  "wounded 
and  carried  to  the  rear;"  gazing  anxiously  at  the  Guards 
who  were  emerging  from  the  smoke  and  carnage  under 
the  hill,  he  missed  the  stalwart  figure  of  Stewart,  now 
stiff  and  cold  in  death.  Still  he  hoped  for  the  realization 
of  his  dreams  when  he  saw  the  Americans  turn  from  the 
field  of  blood  and  calling  for  Tarleton,  he  ordered  him  to 
charge  the  retreating  foe.  Tarleton  came  with  a  rifle 
ball  through  his  hand,  but  was  met  by  Green  and  Wash- 

• 


66 


ington  and  hurled  back  to  his  commander  with  disordered 
ranks. 

The  visions  of  glory  had  vanished;  the  truth  came 
rushing  over  his  mind  that  the  victor  oi  this  battle  was 
not  the  man  who  held  the  field,  and  that  the  ground  on 
which  he  stood  would  soon  become  the  scene  of  his  cap- 
tivity if  he  tarried  to  rest  his  bleeding  comrades. 

Greene  had  lost  but  three  hundred  and  twenty  [320] 
men  and  by  the  evening  of  the  17th,  he  found  still  around 
him  1  $50  Continental  soldiers,  more  than  1 500  militia  and 
the  600  riflemen,  and  on  the  [ 8th,  began  the  pursuit  of 
the  British   commander. 

An  American  officer  relates  that  his  compassion  was 
so  excited  by  the  pitiable  condition  of  the  English  army 
that  he  had  no  heart  to  strike  them  a  blow.  The  road- 
side was  strewn  with  the  dead  who  had  vainly  tried  to 
drag  their  wounded  bodies  along  with  the  retreating 
army. 

The  march  was  tracked  by  the  blood  that  flowed  from 
the  wounds  of  those  who  were  borne  in  litters,  and  here 
and  there  a  soldier,  wounded  and  forsaken,  begged  for 
mercy  and  protection.  When  pressed  in  their  camp  at 
Ramsey's  Mill,  they  made  a  hurried  flight  across  the 
bridge  and  burned  it  behind  them.  Reaching  Cross 
Creek  his  lordship  expected  to  glide  safely  down  the 
Cape  bear  in  boats  but  found  Lillington's  militia  lining 
the  river  and  read}-  to  pick  off  his  men  from  every  cover- 
ing on  the  banks.  Sadly  lie  resumed  his  mournful  march 
and  only  found  safety  under  his  guns  at  Wilmington. 

Cornwallis  had  boasted  in  the  spring  of  1780  that  he 
was  only  waiting  for  the  harvest  to  ripen  in  North  Caro- 
lina to  subsist  his  troops  and  he  would  then  hasten  to  ef- 
fect its  subjection.  The  harvest  had  ripened  but  his  lord- 
ship had  not  garnered  the  sheaves:  he  came  to  the  fields 
of  Mecklenburg  but  a  voice   from   Kings    Mountain  sent 


6; 

dismay  and  terror  to  the  hearts  of  his  reapers  and  they 
forsook  the  State. 

Another  spring  had  come  with  its  sunshine  and  warmth 
and  the  earth  was  waiting  for  the  seed.  The  furrows 
were  drawn  but  the  sowers  were  freemen  still:  the  sum- 
mer came  and  patriots  rested  undismayed  under  the  shade 
of  their  own  vines  and  fig  trees:  no  royal  standard  floated 
over  their  heads  and  North  Carolina  still  was  free.  Geor- 
gia and  South  Carolina  were  trodden  under  foot  but  the 
proud  hearts  of  the  "Old  North  State"  were  never  hum- 
bled before  the  British  throne.  They  declared  for  liberty 
and  maintained  it  unsubdued  to  the  end.  The  Battle  of 
Guilford  Court  House  made  it  impossible  that  another 
British  soldier  should  invade  her  soil,  and  thenceforth 
she  had  peace  and  rest  and  a  free  government  for  her 
people. 

No  longer  able  to  maintain  the  conflict  in  the  Caro- 
linas,  his  lordship  continued  his  flight  to  Yorktown  and 
before  the  frosts  of  October  had  tinged  the  leaves  of  the 
forest,  he  marched  out  of  his  breast-works  an  humbled 
and  heart  broken  captive,  and  with  the  surrender  of  his 
army  came  independence  to  the  colonies. 

The  fatal  wound,  to  royal  authority  from  which  it  lin- 
gered, and  lingering  died,  on  the  19th  day  of  October, 
1 78 1,  was  given  on  the  spot  where  we  are  now  assembled 
to  do  honor  to  the  men  who  accomplished  the  deed. 

It  is  sacred  ground  and  worthy  of  our  veneration  and 
affection,  worthy  to  be  reclaimed  from  the  hand  of  deso- 
lation and  decay  and  adorned  by  the  artist  with  monu- 
ments as  imperishable  as  the  memory  of  those  heroes 
who  were  made  immortal  here. 

There  was  not  a  tree  of  this  noble  forest  that  did  not 
give  shelter  to  the  riflemen  who  contended  against  Eng- 
lish bayonets  on  this  bloody  field.     And  we  may  appro- 


68 

priately  paraphrase  the  verse  of  Morris  with  all  its  pathetic 

tenderness  and   truth, — 


"  Woodman,  spare  that  tree," 

Touch  not  a  single  bough  : 
It  helped  to  make  us  free, 

And  we'll  protect  it  now." 

Let  ns  hold  it  as  a  sacred  heritage  from  our  fathers;  as 
a  shrine  of  liberty  where  all  may  worship  in  the  genera- 
tions which  shall  Continue  to  the  end  of  time. 


69 


At  the  close  of  JUDGE  SCHENCK'S  Historical  Oration, 
Governor  A.  M.  Scales  was  introduced,  who  said: 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Enough  has  been  said.  A  new  chapter  has  been  added 
to  the  history  of  the  Guilford  Battle  Ground,  and  now, 
after  more  than  one  hundred  years,  the  conduct  and  fame 
of  the  North  Carolina  militia  have  been  vindicated. 
Hitherto  North  Carolinians,  acquiescing-  in  a  history 
made  up  at  the  time  from  rumors,  rather  than  facts,  have 
been  subjected  to  humiliation  .  and  mortification  when 
ever  this,  one  of  the  most  important  battles  of  the  Rev- 
olution, was  mentioned. 

When,  as  a  boy  at  school  in  the  town  of  Greensboro, 
I  roamed  over  this  field  in  search  of  war  relics,  it  was  in 
honor  of  the  brave  men  who  fought  and  died  here  in  de- 
fence of  liberty;  but  I  had  no  reverence,  love  or  respect 
for  the  memory  of  the  great  bod}-  of  North  Carolina  mil- 
itia, who,  the  history  of  that  day  taught  me,  threw  away 
their  arms  and  basely  fled  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
without  firing  a  shot. 

-The  battle  ground  itself  has  been  neglected  and  left 
without  a  monument  to  mark  the  spot,  save  its  desola- 
tion. It  has  been  reserved  for  my  distinguished  friend, 
Judge  Schenck,  the  orator  of  the  day — more  distinguished 
to-day  than  ever  before  —  to  uncover  the  truth  of 
history  and  tell  the  tale  of  this  battle  as  it  was  actually 
fought.  He  it  was,  that  while  a  comparative  stranger  to 
our  people,  though  a  native  North  Carolinian,  conceived 
the  idea  of  forming  the  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company, 
to  purchase  and    adorn  the   grounds.     He    it    was    who 


7° 


raised  the  money  that  was  necessary,  contributing  a  large 
share  thereof  himself,  to  investigate  the  truth  of  history, 
and  he  it  is  that  by  patient  and  wide  research  and 
months  of  incessant  labor  collected  the  evidence  from 
friends  and  foes,  at  home  and  abroad,  which  has  enabled 
him  to  wipe  out  forever  the  stain  that  rested  upon  our 
home  militia.  In  the  n  imj  of  the  descendants  of  these 
brave  men,  in  the  name  oi  our  great  State,  I  thank  him 
for  this  great  work. 

I  am  gratified  to  see  so  large  an  audience  gathered 
together  on  this  occasion,  giving  unmistakeable  evidence 
of  the  deep  interest  felt  by  them  in  a  battle  fought  by 
their  fathers  over  one  hundred  years  ago  in  defence  of  a 
united  people  and  a  common  country.  It  tells  me  in 
language  not  to  be  mistaken  that  notwithstanding  our 
late  troubles  we  .ire  -till  in  heart,  as  well  as  in  fact,  one 
undivided  people.  God  grant  that  when  another  hun- 
dred wears  have  passe  1,  he  who  shall  stan  1  here  to  cele- 
brate this  day,  may  still  look  upon  a  people  free,  happy 
and  united. 


APPENDIX  A. 


Col.  Lee  had  observed  that,  "  Had  General  Greene 
known  how  severely  his  enemy  was  crippled,  and  that 
the  corps  under  Lee  had  fought  their  way  to  the  conti- 
nental line,  he  would  certainly  have  continued  the  conflict; 
and,  in  all  probability,  would  have  made  it  a  drawn  day, 
if  not  have  secured  to  himself  the  victory." 

Why  was  General  Greene  not  informed  on  those  two 
points  ? 

Col.  Lee  could  have  foreseen  the  weight  of  respon- 
siblity  which  this  observation  casts  on  himself.  The  first 
would  have  soon  been  discovered  by  the  General,  had 
time  been  allowed  to  make  the  necessary  observations; 
and  this  time  was  denied  by  the  rapid  approach  of  the 
regiment  of  Boze  on  his  exposed  wing. 

Had  Col.  Lee,  therefore,  continued  to  occupy  the  regi- 
ment of  Boze,  by  means  of  the  Light  Corps,  it  would 
have  allowed  the  American  commander  the  time  and 
leisure  necessary  to  reconnoitre  the  remaining  strength 
of  the  enemy. 

And  as  to  the  second  point,  from  whom  ought  the  in- 
formation to  have  come,  but  Col.  Lee  himself? 

There  was  no  want  of  time  on  his  part,  for  he  informs 
us,  that  his  cavalry  and  infantry  had  both  been  sent  off 
before  the  movement  of  Col.  Tarleton  to  that  quarter; 
and  even  the  riflemen  of  Campbell,  who  seemed  to  have 
been  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  would  most  probably 
have  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  American  left  sooner 
than  the  extricated  regiment  of  Hessians. 

The  cavalry  and  Col.  Lee  himself  certainly  did  reach 
the  rear  of  the   American   left,    before  the    regiment    of 


72 

Boze;  and  this  important  piece  of  information  could 
have  been  communicated,  either  by  message,  or -more 
properly,  by  a  junction  with  the  left  of  the  American 
army. 

That  this  was  not  clone,  is  acknowledged  by  Col.  Lee, 
and  could  be  proved,  if  necessary,  by  other  evidence; 
and  its  not  being  done  certainly  leaves  Col.  Lee  exposed 
to  the  charge,  which  he  attributes  t<>  the  want  of  intel- 
ligence in  the  American  commander. 

Nay,  the  acknowledged,  and  otherwise  well  known 
fact,  of  his  having  retreated  by  another  route,  leaves 
himself  also  exposed  to  the  charge  of  separating  from 
the  possible  fate  of  the  army,  ami  thereby  adding  to  its 
difficulties  and  exposure — Johnsons  Life  of  Greene,   \'d. 

-?,  p.   20. 


APPENDIX    B. 


Two  combatants  particularly  attracted  the  attention  of 
those  around  them.  These  were  Colonel  Stuart  of  the 
Guards;  and  Captain  John  Smith  of  the  Marylanders — 
both  men  conspiscuous  for  nerve  and  sinew.  They  had 
also  met  before  on  some  occasion  and  had  vowed  that 
their  next  meeting  should  end  in  blood.  Regardless  of 
the  bayonets  that  were  clashing  around  them  they  rushed 
at  each  other  with  a  fur}"  that  admitted  of  but  one  result. 
The  quick  pass  of  Stuart's  small  sword  was  skillfull}'  put 
by  with  the  left  hand,  while  the  heavy  sabre  of  his  an- 
tagonist cleft  the  Briton  to  the  spine.  In  one  moment 
the  American  was  prostrate  on  the  lifeless  body  of  his 
enemy;  and  in  the  next  was  pressed  beneath  the  weight 
of  a  soldier  who  had  brought  him  to  the  ground.  These 
are  not  imaginary  incidents — they  are  related  on  the  best 
authority.  A  ball  discharged  at  Smith's  head  as  his 
sword  descended  on  that  of  Stuart  had  grazed  it,  and 
brought  him  to  the  ground,  at  the  instant  that  the  bayonet 
of  a  favorite  soldier,  who  always  sought  the  side  of  his 
captain  in  the  hour  of  danger,  pierced  the  heart  of  one 
who  appears  to  have  been  equally  watchful  over  the  safety 
of  the  British  colonel.  This  incident,  it  will  be  found  in 
the  sequel  of  these  sketches,  was  productive  of  some  in- 
teresting consequences. — Johnson 's  Life  of  Greene ',  Vol.  2. 


74 


LlRRARY    OF    COXCRKSS, 
Washixcitox,    1).   C,   June    1st,    [888. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  at  last  discovered  Colonel  James 
Stuart's  family.  lie  was  the  fifth  son  of  Robert  Stuart, 
seventh  Baron  Blantyre,  in  the  Peerage  of  Scotland. 
The  present  Baron  Blantyre  is  his  grand  nephew.  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  the  date  of  his  birth.  His 
eldest  brother,  the  eighth  Baron  was  born  in  172;  or 
172b.  His  father  died  in  174;,.  The  family  residence  are 
Lennoxlore,  Haddington,  and  Erskine  House,  Renfrew- 
shire, some  ten  miles  below  Glasgow  on  the  Clyde. 
When  killed  at  Guilford  he  held  the  rank  of  Captain  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  hirst  Regiment  of  hoot 
Guards.  I  can  find  no  trace  oi  his  having  been  married. 
With  regards,  Yours  faithfully, 

David  Hutchesox, 
.1  ssistaut  Librarian 
HOX.   1  ).  SCHEXCK, 

Greensbon  1,  \ .  L  . 


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